AAC Tournament: shattered hope for the Buffaloes

Amanda Diefendorf,

Contributing Writer


The men’s and women’s basketball teams competed at the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament Feb. 26 in Bristol, Va. to fight for a possible spot in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tournament. Both teams lost their first games, quickly ending their hopes of continued post-season play.

“Our loss came as a huge shock. We had begun to play really well and we honestly thought we were going to win the whole tournament,” said freshman Nate Tincher. 

The men’s team began play on Feb. 26 at Virginia High School against Covenant College. Covenant was the number 12 seed, which is the lowest of the tournament. Covenant beat Milligan 59-52 thanks to a back door offense that ran over Milligan’s defense, according to Tincher. 

The women’s team earned a first round bye and didn’t start play until Feb. 27 as a result of finishing fourth in regular season play. However, the extra day of rest didn’t seem to help in their game against Brevard College, which ended in a one-point loss for the Lady Buffs. 

The girls began the first half down by as many as 15 points, only to come back within 5 points with a long range 3 point shot by sophomore Ginny White to end the half. 

In the second half, they team caught up to Brevard and then played a back and forth battle for the lead. In the last 20 seconds, the Lady Buffaloes were up by 1, but several key turnovers and timely shooting allowed Brevard to regain the lead with 4.3 seconds remaining. 

The ball was in bounded and passed to freshman guard Kari Stout who dribbled over half court and heaved a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer. The Lady Buffs the shot didn’t go down and so ended Milligan’s quest to capture the tournament title.

“I didn’t feel any pressure when Coach [Aubrey] said the ball was coming in bounds to me,” said Stout.

Stout said she felt confident that she could make the shot but ended up missing. At the time she felt bad but later realized that it wasn’t just her fault but everyone’s errors that led to the teams’ loss.

“You win and lose as a team,” she said. 

Sophomore center Lacy York said the ladies have begun looking forward to what is coming for them next season but are still unwilling to fully let go of this season. The Lady Buffs currently have a workout and training schedule set up to begin after spring break, she said.

“It was a devastating loss for us,” she said. “We are really going to miss the seniors and the leadership they provided for us.”

The beginning of tournament week did, however, begin with celebration at the conference banquet. Several outstanding members of both teams were awarded at the banquet. Those recognized from the men’s team were Marc Curry and JaKeith Hariston who made the all-freshman team and Jonathan Harris who made the all-AAC second team. 

From the ladies team, Stout was named to the all-AAC second team and awarded AAC freshman of the year and Patty Robb, Amanda Hammons, and Kristen Kerkvliet were named to the AAC all-academic team as posted on the official AAC web site.