Men's basketball's stellar season ends in national opener

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A prolonged second-half drought was too much to overcome, as third-ranked Union saw its stellar season come to an end with an 82-76 loss to Southeastern (Fla.) in the opening round of the NAIA Men's Basketball National Tournament on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs led by as much as 11 in the first half and got a jolt of energy going into the half when Markelo Sullivan hammered home a reverse, putback dunk off a miss to give Union a 42-35 lead at the break.

The dunk was a cap to a dominant half for Sullivan, who scored the Bulldogs' first 12 points. He finished the game with 29 points and 11 rebounds.

But the Fire was unphased. A 6-0 run to open the half, quickly ballooned into a 13-2 run, and when Riley Matticks hit a 3-pointer with 7:22 to play, the Bulldogs were staring at a 70-56 deficit.

Union went nearly five minutes without a made field goal out of the locker room and connected on just five of its first 25 attempts from the floor in the second half.

The Bulldogs did claw back, even trimming the deficit to 80-76 with under a minute to play when Deonte Douglas connected on floaters on back-to-back possessions. But those would, unfortunately, be the final points of the season, as Southeastern answered with two free throws before Union came away empty on its final three shot attempts, finishing the half 13-of-43 from the field.

Markelle Turner and Terrin Hamilton both scored in double-figures with 17 and 10 points respectively. Hamilton also was one rebound shy of a double-double, as Union held a 49-39 edge on the glass.

Riley Minix, the third-leading scorer and leading rebounder in the NAIA, led all players with 30 points and tied Sullivan for the game lead with 11 rebounds.

The loss brings a sad, premature end to one of the better seasons in Union history, as the Bulldogs finish with a record of 27-3. Only the 1921-22 Union team (13-2) had fewer losses while just the 2017 National Championship winning squad had a better winning percentage (.921)