No. 7 Seed Men's Basketball Upsets No. 2 Seed CIU to Advance to AAC Tournamen Semifinals

KINGSPORT, Tenn.- The men's basketball team moved on to the semifinals of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament on Thursday in Kingsport, Tenn. The seventh-seed upset the No. 2 seed Columbia International University Rams 78-75 to advance. 

Ty Runyan and Reshaun Hampton combined to score the first 15 points for the Bulldogs in the game. Through seven minutes, the combination had given TWU a 15-9 lead. A three-point play by Cory Marshall and a three-pointer by Hampton gave the Bulldogs a double-digit lead with the score reading 21-11. Tennessee Wesleyan continued to hold a double-digit lead, pushing their lead to 39-23 on Charles Neverdon's three-pointer with under five minutes remaining until halftime. With 2:44 until the break, Runyan's layup gave the team their largest lead of the game of 17 points, making the score 45-28. The team went into halftime leading 48-36. 

The offensive fire the Bulldogs had in the first half was out to begin the second half. TWU did not score over the first five minutes of the second half, allowing Columbia International to cut the lead down to four points. Hampton broke the cold spell but the Rams were able to keep the momentum, eventually carrying it to a six-point, 58-52 lead with 12:06 remaining in the game. With an Aaron Layne shot and back-to-back JJ Rueckert layups, the Bulldogs tied the game with 9:25 remaining. Tennessee Wesleyan was not able to break the tie as Columbia International held the lead of a back-and-forth game over the next several minutes. With 2:41 remaining, Runyan hit a three-pointer that pushed the Bulldogs ahead 70-68. Armando Cuardado broke the final tie of the game with an tip-in, giving the team a 74-72 lead with 1:23 left. Hampton made a layup and two free throws down the stretch to give the team the win to move them to the semifinal round.

Hampton led the team with 23 points while Runyan had a career-high 19 points.

TWU (13-12, 10-9 AAC) will play Johnson University in the semifinals on Friday at 4:00 p.m.