MEADOWVIEW MARRIOTT; KINGSPORT, TENN. |   

Junior Jacob Booke delivered a season-high 22 points in helping the TMU Bears to a 76-60 win over Bluefield College in the semifinal round of the 2017 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament on Friday afternoon. The win advances Truett McConnell to the championship game for the first time as a four year institution in the NAIA. The Bears will face first-seeded Union (Ky.) in the title game on Saturday afternoon in Kingsport, TN. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

Head Coach Jon Yeh complimented his team, "We were ready to compete from the tip. The fact that we played so pitifully last Saturday on senior day against them benefited us. Our guys weren't going to let that happen again."
"Calvin is continuing to prove to the conference that he should have been on the all-freshman team. Now he has a chance to be on the all-tournament team."
"We got a little out of character midway through the second half. But we pulled it together and closed the game really well from an execution standpoint."
"Obviously, it was great to have Jacob go off like that in the first half. He got the line early and scored all over the court."

The Bears finished with four players in double-figure scoring. Jacob Booke hit 7-of-10 shots from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 from the free throw line in logging his game-high 22 points. Again, senior David Campbell Jr. added a 16 piece while Christian Davis contributed 15 points respectively. Stepping up as a freshman, Calvin White had another stellar performance finishing with 12 points and 7 rebounds.  

Starting the game off with intensity, TMU's Christian Davis drained  a deep three-pointer within the first couple seconds into play. TMU wasted little time in seizing control of the game, using a 11-0 run to open up a 21-7 lead with 13:38 left in the half. The Bears led as much as 24 points in the period before going into the break, 49-27. 
Bluefield did not go down easy showing life midway in the second half and used a 16-2 run of its own to pull within 59-52. That is as close as Bluefield could get as Truett upped the advantage 74-54 in the final ten minutes and coasted to the 76-60 victory.

The Bears ended up shooting 58.8 percent from the field and 50 percent behind the three-point line, while Bluefield was held to just 43.3 percent shooting and just 35 percent from three.

The 16-point decision extends TMU's overall record to 20-12 on the 2017-18 season.