Boxscore
Barbourville, Ky. - With eight tenths of a second left, Kevin Perry put back the second miss of the possession to gives UVa-Wise the Appalachain Athletic Conference title over Union College, 86-85, and second trip to the NAIA National Championship in school history.

After the Bulldogs' Beau Brown connected on two free throws with 8.8 seconds left to make it, 85-84, the Highland Cavaliers rushed to half court to call a timeout with 6.8 ticks on the clock. Travis Berry drove into the lane and saw his layup just roll off the rim. Perry gathered the ball in and just missed his put back only to climb and grab it back and slide in the second try for the 86-85 lead at eight tenths. Following a home timeout, Union's half court pass was caught but Darrel Jackson's three-pointer fell well short and the UVa-Wise (17-12) celebration was under way with the 86-85 final.

Pance Kecev paced the winning effort with 21 points on five of seven shooting and eight of eight from the foul line. Berry hit big shots down the stretch to finish with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists. Sam Eligwe added 12 tallies and Norris Gaskins chipped in 10 points to go with four rebounds and three assists.

Kearney Deamus led the Union (18-13) with 22 points on eight of 11 attempts while Curtis Stephens added 19 points by hitting eight of 14 shots. Beau Brown contributed 12 points.

The Cavs will await for the their next opponent at the NAIA National Championships in the Wednesday announcement. It will be just the second UVa-Wise trip to the nationals with the other coming in 2002.

Tied at 13-13, UVa-Wise went on a 20-4 run to rush ahead to a 33-17 advantage over a seven minutes period. The margin grew by a point to 17 two times with the second being at 40-23 on a Gaskins layup at 4:22 in the first half. The Bulldogs put together a strong four minute push by outscoring its visitors, 15-6, to cut the difference to 46-38 at intermission.

Union continued its strong play out of the locker room by chipping away the margin to a single point, 50-49, in the first 3:31 on a Stephens layup. Jackson gave the home team its first lead since the opening minutes, 55-54, with 14:39.

The Cavs would lead by as many as six points two times with the last being on two Eligwe foul shots to make it 71-65 at 8:42. The Bulldogs netted the next eight points to edge in front briefly, 73-71, to lead to six minutes of neither team leading by more than a point.

Demus slid in a putback to give Union a three-point lead, 83-80, with 1:08 left before UVa-Wise called a timeout with exactly a minute left. Perry made two foul shots to take it back to a single point at 49.6 seconds, 83-82. 

After a Bulldog miss, Berry pulled up for a soft jumper in the lane to put the Cavs back in front, 84-83, with 22.5 seconds. Union's Brown connected on two free throws after being fouled on a baseline drive to edge in front, 85-84, at 8.8 seconds. Berry raced down the floor and called timeout at midcourt to set up the final sequence leading to Perry's game-winning putback.