Montreat, Union Fall in NAIA Opening Round

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) hit hard times in the opening round of the 2022 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Tournament as Montreat and Union both fell in the first game of the opening round.

Montreat lost to Indiana Wesleyan 80-65 in the Cramer Bracket, while Union fell 67-65 to Stillman (Ala.) in the Liston Bracket. The games took place on Friday, March 11.

IWU 80, MONTREAT 65

Montreat trailed 42-40 at the half but was able to grab a 53-50 lead with 14:14 to play thanks to a Djongo-Alan Tchatchouang 3-pointer. However, Indiana Wesleyan responded with an 11-0 run to seize a 64-56 advantage at the 8:23 mark. The Cavaliers cut the margin to four, but the Wildcats ended the game on a 16-5 stretch to lock up the 80-65 decision.

Jaja Davis led Montreat with 21 points, while Noah Dunn followed with 14.

STILLMAN 67, UNION 65

Union trailed by as much as 20 in the first have, and Stillman owned a double-digit lead for much of the second half and was up 57-42 with 7:55 to play. The Bulldogs, though, used a 14-3 run to cut the deficit to 60-56. Markelle Turner buried a 3-pointer to make it a four-point game with 3:10 remaining.

The Tigers pushed the margin to 64-56 with 1:27 to go, but Turner scored the next seven points to make it 64-62 with 15.1 seconds to play. Stillman hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it a three-point game. Union got two 3-point attempts off, but both rimmed out. Stillman tacked on two more free throws, and Blake Ervin drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer. But it was too little, too late as the Bulldogs fell 67-65.

Terrin Hamilton paced Union with 18 points, while Turner and Ervin each added 15.