TWC's Ward AAC player of year

SummariesWomen's GamesLEE 79, TRUETT-McCONNELL 43Truett-McConnell (1-27, 0-18 SSAC)Lester, Simoes 5, Gould 4, Hammond 3, Haskett 10, Montgomery 7, T. Johnsno 4, Dixon 8, Lawson 2, N. Johnson, Benhart.Lee (26-2, 15-2)Jackson, Miller 4, Hamby 7, German 21, Zimmerman 18, Lockhart, Adams 14, Iles 8, Johnson 4, Beavers, Browning 3, Hawthorne, Charpentier.Halftime: Lee, 79-43.Men's GamesCOVENANT 69, HUNTINGDON 60Covenant (14-11)Boyd 2, McGriff 12, Bowman 11, Mutcherson 9, Frierson 15, Sears 11, DeVries 5, Delaney, Engbers, Den dulk 4, Moss, Chaney, Kubin, Fleming.Huntingdon (6-18)Petty 1, Lee 2, Hill 9, Thomas 15, Moorer 4, Stubbs 4, Varney 10, Hughes, Washington 8, Tackett 5, Blackmon 2.Halftime: Huntingdon, 28-24.LEE 87, TRUETT-McCONNELL 41Truett-McConnell (6-22, 4-13 SSAC)Dorsey 6, Joiner 18, Loyd 7, Cook 2, Johnson 4, Fisher, Hurst 4, Scibberras, Diaz.Lee (27-1, 15-1)Shaughnessy 2, Bennett 8, Dunn 2, Blue 3, Barnes 27, Gaines 16, Billingsley 6, Forhetz 2, Bawa 4, Lee 12, Woods 3, Johnson 2.Halftime: Lee, 54-14.

Tennessee Wesleyan senior point guard E'Jay Ward from Brainerd High School is the 2012-13 Appalachian Athletic Conference men's basketball player of the year and defensive player of the year, and the top-seeded Bulldogs advanced to the AAC tournament semifinals in Kingsport, Tenn., with a 123-97 win over ninth seeded St. Andrews on Thursday.

It was the 16th win in a row for the Bulldogs (23-7), ranked No. 14 in NAIA Division II, and Desmond Crisp joined Ward on the five-man All-AAC first team with Zamarius McClendon and Bryan's Rob Riley on the second team and TWC's Tyler Burse a third-team pick. Riley also made the all-defensive team with Ward, and Bryan's Brandon Cole and Rafael Tyler were all-freshmen honorees, Cole as freshman of the year.

TWC's Mike Poe was the men's coach of the year.

McClendon scored 30 points and Shannon Smith had 24 in Thursday's win.

Third-seeded Bryan (14-15) beat Union College 78-73 with Riley scoring 22 points and Derrick Walker adding 20.

Wesleyan also won as the second seed in the women's tournament, 61-49 over Montreat, but Bryan's Lady Lions lost 62-42 to Reinhardt. For TWC (18-10), Michelle Davis scored 18 points and junior post Cody Houck passed 1,000 for her career with 12, and they both made the All-AAC second team with Heather Gibson a third-teamer and Gibson and Lauren Murr making the CoSIDA academic all-district team along with Reinhardt's Hannah Mayo from Dalton.

Morgan Burnette scored 14 points and Keila Formont added 10 for Bryan's women (17-12), and Burnette was a first-team All-AAC selection along with Milligan junior Kayla Kelly from Chattanooga. Burnette and Gibson earned all-defensive honors, and Formont and TWC's Sara McKinnon made the all-freshmen team.

• Covenant 69, Huntingdon 60: At Montgomery, Ala., the Scots finished their regular season 14-11 for the most wins since 2005-06 and the first winning record since 1998-99. Covenant won just 17 games the last three years combined. Nate Frierson had a career-high 15 points, Colton McGriff scored 12 and Sam Bowman and Callum Sears each added 11, Bowman with nine rebounds.

• Lee 87, Truett-McConnell 41: At Cleveland, the nationally second-ranked Flames played their last home game in 39 years of NAIA competition with the SSAC romp featuring 27 points and seven rebounds by Will Barnes and 16 points by Jamorris Gaines for Lee (27-1, 15-1).

• Lee (w) 79, Truett-McConnell 43: The seventh-ranked Lady Flames improved to 26-2, 15-2 in the SSAC, with Hollie German contributing 21 points, seven assists and four steals, Julia Zimmerman scoring 18 points on 6-of-11 3-point success, Jenna Adams adding 14 points and nine rebounds and Brooke Hamby making nine assists. Ridgeland graduate Rhande Haskett led the visitors with 10 points and nine rebounds.

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