KINGSPORT, Tenn. (Feb. 28, 2014) â€" After storming back from a 20-point second-half deficit, the Milligan College men's basketball team ran out of gas and was beaten by top seed Union College 92-87 in the semifinals of the AAC conference tournament Friday afternoon at the MeadowView Marriott.

Milligan finished the year 18-10 (11-7 AAC) while No. 24 Union, winner of the AAC regular season, improved to 27-4 and will play in Saturday's championship game.

Despite starting the game strong and jumping out to a nine-point lead in the early going, Milligan trailed by seven (34-27) at the half before watching the Bulldogs put together a 28-13 run in the opening minutes of the second half. Union caught fire during that stretch, making nine shots from the field and connecting on four three-point attempts over a span of seven minutes.

Then it was Milligan's turn. Fueled by Mike Woods Jr.'s pair of three-pointers, the Buffaloes clawed back with a 30-14 run of their own. Kurt Brooks capped it with a three-point basket from the left wing in front of the Milligan bench, cutting it to four.

With 3:42 left and the score 76-72 in favor of Union, the Bulldogs regrouped and expanded their lead back to double figures inside of one minute.

Senior Corey Hendren and Woods Jr. made things interesting in the final minute by making three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to cut it to four, then Hendren had an offensive put-back that cut it to three their next trip down the floor.

It was too little, too late, though as Union, with 7.1 seconds left, cashed in on both free throws to go back up by five.

The Buffs left 21 points at the free throw line, shooting 25-46 (54.3%) from there for the game. They missed 14 (17-31) in a second half which still saw them outscore Union 60-58.

Cartree Pettis led Milligan with 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Morgan McLeod finished with 12 points, seven rebounds. Brooks, Torian Sitton and Woods, Jr. scored 11 apiece.

Union's DeAntray Stevens led all scorers with 26 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He was 3-of-6 from three and added 11 points from the foul line. Other Bulldogs to reach double figures were Deante Johnson (21) and Tarik Smith (19) off the bench.

Mickey Woods was held to eight points on 2-of-11 shooting. His career points total is now 991 after his junior season.