KINGSPORT, Tenn. (Feb. 27, 2015) â€" The Buffs will still have a lot to play for on Saturday, but in the meantime the Milligan College men's basketball team can celebrate an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship, which was earned by defeating Tennessee Wesleyan College 79-64 in the semifinals of the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament Friday night.
 
Milligan (20-9, 12-6 AAC) will play for the AAC tournament title, facing No. 17 Union Saturday at 4 p.m. back at the MeadowView Marriott. By way of Union, the regular season champion, and Milligan, the regular season runner-up, making it to the tournament final, both teams are guaranteed a spot in the national event set to be played at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri, March 11-17.
 
The last time Milligan went to the national tournament was following the 2000-2001 season when the Buffs won their third straight regular season title. They lost to Tabor University 79-76 in the opening round.
 
In Friday's win, Kurt Brooks put the Buffs on the right track just 18 seconds into the game, picking up where he left off in a career-high effort on Thursday. On the game's opening possession, Brooks connected for three, and it hardly seemed like there was any doubt from there.
 
Trailing by two, Milligan put together a 13-1 run beginning just over five minutes into the game to go into the lead for good. James Songster and Brooks started it and ended it with 3-point makes as the Buffs made their first three triples and were 4-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc over the first 10 minutes. In between the Songster and Brooks makes, Milos Petrovic buried a jumper as the shot clock expired.
 
The Buffaloes later went on a 10-0 run to end the opening period and extend the game out to their largest lead of 17 (42-25) at the break.
 
The second half was more of the same as Tennessee Wesleyan never pulled closer than 10, and the Buffs went ahead by as many as 23. Chris Ellis' breakaway dunk put an exclamation point on a 12-0 run that gave Milligan its largest lead of 67-44 at the 6:10 mark.  
 
Bailey led Milligan in scoring with 17 points and Morgan McLeod scored 16. They each had eight rebounds. Mickey Woods had a quiet night but still managed 14 points and four rebounds, and Brooks was 5-of-13 from the floor and 2-of-5 from three, finishing with 12 points.
 
Milligan shot an even 50 percent (27-54) from the field while defending Tennessee Wesleyan to 39 percent (24-61). The Buffs made five 3-pointers on 15 attempts and held TWC to three on 17 attempts.
 
For the Bulldogs (16-13, 9-9 AAC), only six players registered a field goal, led by Stephen Kite Jr. who scored 26 on 9-of-20 shooting.
 
Up next, Milligan plays No. 17 Union in the conference tournament championship on Saturday at 4 p.m. following the women's championship game between Milligan and No. 10 Tennessee Wesleyan at 2 p.m. Both games will be played in the MeadowView Marriott.
 
Milligan's men handed Union its only league loss of the season, a 70-69 win on the road, but also fell to the Bulldogs, 79-74 at home. Union's victory over Reinhardt in the other semifinal game was the 20th straight win for the Bulldogs who last lost on Dec. 13, at University of the Cumberlands.