KINGSPORT, Tenn. (Feb. 28, 2015) â€" Bottom line, the Milligan College men's basketball team is still going to the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship in March. The Buffaloes lost to No. 17 Union College 84-63 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament championship, but by way of earning the regular season runner-up and Union winning both the regular season and tournament titles, Milligan received an automatic bid to the national tournament.
 
Milligan (20-10, 12-6 AAC) led by as many as seven in the first half and had the game tied at 23-23 with under seven minutes left in the opening period, but Union (30-4, 17-1 AAC) closed the half on an 8-2 run, highlighted by a 3-point basket by DeAntray Stevens in the closing seconds.
 
Milligan opened up the second half by climbing back to a six-point deficit after a conventional 3-point play by Mickey Woods made it 43-37. Six minutes later, Julian Bailey trimmed the deficit back down to seven with a fast break bucket assisted by Woods to make it 56-49 with 11 minutes to go.
 
Union answered, however, with the next nine points and a run of 27-15 to end the game and capture its 21st straight win and second straight tournament crown.
 
Woods, who was joined by Kurt Brooks on the All-Tournament team, led all scorers with 22 points and added four rebounds and four assists. Brooks scored 13 to go with six rebounds and continued his hot streak of shooting with a 3-for-6 effort beyond the arc. He connected on back-to-back tries during the first half as Milligan controlled the game early.
 
Prior to Bailey's basket that made it 56-49 with 11 minutes left, Woods scored the team's previous four points with baskets on back-to-back possessions to start a 6-0 run. He then had a nice feed inside that freed Bailey up for the easy two which cut it to the last single-digit deficit. Over the next three minutes, Union scored nine straight points, punctuated by another Stevens 3-pointer to make it 65-49.
 
Senior Morgan McLeod finished with 11 points, four rebounds, an assist, a blocked shot and a steal. Bailey and Mike Woods Jr. chipped in seven points apiece.
 
Union's Stevens scored a team high 20 points after shooting 7-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-8 from three. Three other Bulldogs were in double figures as Dominique Hagans scored 16, and Deante Johnson and JD Tucker had 15 apiece. Union also won the season series over the Buffs after splitting the home-and-home during the regular season.
 
Milligan lost to the Bulldogs 79-74 at home toward the end of the regular season but also handed them their only league loss of the season with a 70-69 win on the road last December.
 
Milligan last went to the national tournament in 2001, following the program's third straight regular season title. The Buffs lost to Tabor University 79-76 in the opening round that year. The full bracket and seeding information will be released once the entire field has been set. The 24th annual men's basketball championship is set to be played in Point Lookout, Missouri, at College of the Ozarks from March 11-17.