Union Scores Ninth Consecutive Men's Basketball Tournament Title

KINGSPORT, Tenn. - Even though its campus is over two hours away, Union has made itself quite at home at the MeadowView Marriott Convention Center and Conference Resort as the Bulldogs captured their ninth consecutive Appalachian Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament championship on Saturday, defeated No. 2 seed Montreat 84-79.

This is the 10th year the tournament has been held in Kingsport, and Union has one the last nine and is 28-0 during that stretch.

Markelle Turner nabbed Tournament MVP honors as she scored 36 points in the title game. He tallied 92 total points in the tournament, averaging 30.7 per game.

Joining Turner on the All-Tournament Team are Andre Silva and Teddy Fifer from Union, Noah Dunn and Jaja Davis from Montreat, Enonka Franky of Truett McConnell, and Darrian Oates of Columbia International.

Union opened the game on fire, leading by 14-4 lead with 16 minutes to go. However, Montreat battled back and took a 44-43 lead into the half. The Cavaliers quickly grabbed a five-point lead as the second half unfolded, but the Bulldogs bounced back to tie the game at 51-all with 15:46 remaining. The scoring went back-and-forth until Union used a 6-0 spurt to open up a 66-60 advantage at the 11:21 mark. Montreat managed to tie the score twice more at 71-all and 73-all. Yet, Union used another 6-0 spurt to build a 79-73 cushion with 3:48 to play. A Dunn 3-pointer pulled Montreat within 79-77 with 2:44 left, but union closed out the game on a 5-2 clip to secure the 84-79 victory and the tournament title.

Since Union won both the regular-season and tournament championships and Montreat was the regular-season runner-up, both teams receive an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship Tournament. The 64-team bracket will be announced on Thursday, March 3, at 8 p.m. ET.