Both men’s and women’s basketball appeared in the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament. The women finished as runner up of the tournament while the men fell in the semifinals.
The men started the post-season tournament by beating Kentucky Christian 86-70 before losing to Montreat 100-68 the following day.
“[We] felt great about the win over KY Christian. We played well, shot the ball great and beat a very good team,” said Bill Robinson, men’s head basketball coach.“I believe that if we were 100% healthy, we could have made a better showing in the tournament. The flu and the fact that three of our players need surgery after the season all added to the semifinal loss.”
Despite falling short in the tournament, several senior players received awards for their work. Jacob Cawood was named All Conference. Mike Featherston was named All Defensive, and Desean Green was named All Conference, All Defensive and Champion of Character. Nate Hastings was also named to the All Tournament Team according to Robinson.
“Nate Hastings had an amazing year. Scored 4 points total as a junior. Scored over 200pts this season. [It was] just an incredible ending to his career,” said Robinson.
Overall, the men finished the season with a 19-12 record and ranked third in the league.
As for the women, they had just as impressive a season.
They started the conference tournament off with a three game win streak: defeated Truett McConnell 71-51, upsetting No. 13 Bryan 75-67 and beating Allen 78-67 before losing to Union 60-46 in the final.
While their final loss kept them from an automatic bid to the NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship, the AAC tournament was far from a waste.
“It was a really great experience for our team,” said Rich Aubrey, head women’s basketball coach.
This was the first time since 2015 that Milligan’s women’s basketball had made it to the championship game.
According to Aubrey it also gave the team the chance to come together and play as close to their full potential as they had all season.
Two players earned AAC honors as well. Halie Padgett, a sophomore, and Kaeley Gose, a senior, were both named to the All Tournament Team.
They finished out their season with a record of 15-19 and are looking forward to reaching even higher levels of success next season.
Headline photo: Milligan women’s basketball ranked runner up in the AAC Tournament. Photo from @milligancollegewbb.