Men's Basketball Comeback Rally Falls Short Against Union

BARBOURVILLE, Ky.- The men's basketball went on the first of a few road trips on Wednesday. The team hit the pavement to play the Union College Bulldogs in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game.

The opening minutes saw the score go back and forth. Amauri Young, Keshawn McPherson, and Ty Hurst gave the Bulldogs a 6-5 advantage four minutes into the game. Jay Reed moved the lead to three with his layup and Young made the score 10-7 with his jump shot. Near the midway point of the first half, an 18-18 tie occurred. TWU broke the tie by going on a 18-2 run to hold a 36-20 advantage. McPherson, Darius Rozier, Peyton West, Ty Runyan, Kariden Hardrick, and Stratton Lovvorn combined during the scoring streak to give the team their largest lead of the game. Tennessee Wesleyan went into halftime leading 41-31. 

McPherson opened the second half with a jump shot to extend the Bulldogs' lead to 43-31. Unfortunately, the momentum shifted as Union scored 19 consecutive points to take over the lead. Nichaune Jones stopped the scoring drought for TWU with a three-pointer making the score 50-46 with 12:57 remaining in the game. The points continued to climb on the scoreboard for each team and with 5:46 remaining, West hit a three-point jumper to put the game in a 61-61 tie. Kobe Pride put the game in its final tie, a score of 66-66 with 3:18 on the clock. Union broke the tie and went on to win the game by a final score of 76-69.

McPherson led the scoring with 13 points for the Bulldogs. West added 11 points while Hardrick had 10 points.

Tennessee Wesleyan (3-6, 3-5 AAC) heads back to the state of Kentucky on Saturday for a conference contest against Kentucky Christian University. The game is set to begin at 2:00 p.m.