men's basketball
TMU Athletics
83
Winner Truett McConnell (Ga.) TMU 19-12
75
Milligan (Tenn.) MILL 15-13
Winner
Truett McConnell (Ga.) TMU
19-12
83
Final
75
Milligan (Tenn.) MILL
15-13
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Truett McConnell (Ga.) TMU 35 48 83
Milligan (Tenn.) MILL 32 43 75

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | TMU Athletic Communications

TMU Basketball advances to AAC Semis with 83-75 win over Milligan College

KINGSPORT, Tenn. | Bolstered by a resurgent defense, Truett McConnell University (TMU) defeated Milligan College 83-75 in the quarterfinal round of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament on Thursday. The Bears (19-12) move on to face Bluefield College on Friday at 4 pm. It is the first time that TMU has made it to the semifinal round.

TMU, the tournament's No. 7 seed, limited the Buffaloes to just 38 percent shooting from the field overall and 23 percent from the 3-point line. On the season, Milligan had shot 47 percent from the field and 38 percent from behind the arc. The Bears also forced the No. 2 seed into 17 turnovers, 10 of which were steals. TMU is No. 3 in the nation with 10.2 steals per game.

"To be honest, it was a pretty ugly game but we played and defended with great passion," said Bears Head Coach Jon Yeh. "Milligan wasn't as crisp as they have been the last couple weeks. I'd like to think our defensive effort had something to do with that."

On the offensive side, freshman Calvin White had another stellar performance. The 6-6 freshman scored 17 points on 8 of 8 shooting from the field. The Bears' leading rebounder on the year also topped the team with 11 boards.

"Somehow, Calvin was not selected to the All-Freshman team. I told him last night at the awards banquet that he got hosed," mused Yeh. "I wanted him to go out and prove that he should have been on that team, and he certainly did tonight."

First-team All-Conference selection Christian Davis paced the Bears with 23 points, connecting on five 3-pointers. Senior David Campbell added 16 points.

Milligan came into the game as the hottest team in the AAC, having won six consecutive games and eight of its last nine contests. That didn't seem to bother Yeh.

"All year long, we've had some pretty good wins over quality opponents," commented Yeh. "Before the game, I reminded our guys of our wins over Union, Bryan, and Allen. In fact, Allen's only loss in their final 11 games was to us. We just needed to remember to play for each other and to play with some fire."

TMU and Bluefield split the season series, each winning on the other's court. The Rams defeated the Bears 81-66 last Saturday at the Bear Cave Gymnasium. TMU prevailed 87-70 at Bluefield on Jan. 13.

The AAC Tournament is being held at the MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort & Convention Center in Kingsport, Tenn.
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