Wise, Va. - After the two most successful seasons on the court in recent years, both UVa-Wise basketball teams have earned the right to open the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament this week. The Highland Cavaliers would like to invite everyone to head to Greear Gym to make it a huge home court advantage this week and cheer on the teams to playoffs victories.

The first AAC Tournament game set for Greear Gym will be the Highland Cavalier men hosting the Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. The UVa-Wise women entertain Montreat College on the next evening on Thursday also in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. All UVa-Wise students will be admitted free of charge with adult tickets at $5 and all other students set at $3. There will be no passes due to AAC Tournament regulations.

Following many years of a host tournament site, the AAC Tournament will be hosted by the higher seed in each matchup with alternating days of men and women. The top four regular season finishers host quarterfinal contests which both UVa-Wise teams finished with that distinction for the upcoming home dates. Tonight, the ninth seeded team plays at the eighth seed on both women's and men's side to begin the tournament.

On the men's side, UVa-Wise (14-12) finished the league's regular season in a four-way tie for first at 11-5 with Bluefield, Union and Bryan. Unfortunately, the Cavs lost the tiebreakers with the other three conference foes and will enter as the fourth seeded club. The fifth seed Tennessee Wesleyan College will come to Greear Gym for the 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night quarterfinal matchup.

For the women, UVa-Wise (15-12) tied Bluefield College for third place. The Cavs swept the Lady Rams in their two meetings and will start the tournament as the third seed. Sixth seed Montreat College will come to Wise for a Thursday tilt also starting at 7:30 p.m.

For all of the AAC Tournament pairings, all fans can check out the league website at: www.aacsports.com now or www.uvawisecavs.com, which will have the pairings on Monday night.