The 2009-2010 Montreat College men's and women's basketball seasons ended during the last week of February, and the players and coaches will cherish winning shots and close victories and try to forget the disappointments that come over the course of thirty competitive games.

 But in addition to good memories, there are several Cavalier players who will head into the off-season with an official pat on the back from the Appalachian Athletic Conference for their outstanding efforts during the year. On February 25, the AAC announced their All-Conference Teams and Players-of-the-Year in both men's and women's basketball, and a number of Montreat athletes have been recognized. 

 

Though the Cavalier men struggled this season, junior Matt Rushing, a 6'-4" forward from Mount Holly, N.C., offered hope for a bounce-back season next year as he averaged nearly 12 points (with a high of 25) and 5 rebounds a game. He was named to the AAC All-Conference Third Team.

 

Head Coach Craig Jackson's Cavalier women turned things around this year, winning 20 games with a young team that promises to get stronger. Fittingly, the AAC honored five Montreat players with various awards. Senior guard Janel Cox from Sharpsville, Indiana and Whitney Boone, a senior forward from Bakersville, North Carolina, were both named to the AAC All-Conference Third Team.

 

In addition, senior guard Kera Bryant, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, was voted onto the AAC All-Defensive Team. 

 

The women certainly found time to keep up with their studies as well, as Boone and Cox were named to both the AAC All-Academic and NAIA Daktronics Academic All-American teams. Finally, junior forward Stephanie Morrison from Davenport, Washington and Alicia Wallace, a sophomore center from Mt. Airy, N.C., were placed on the AAC All-Academic squad as well.

 

Montreat College is proud of all of the athletes who represent our community with such character and effort, and we congratulate Matt and all five women who were honored by the AAC. 

Montreat's men's basketball team stumbled to a 3-26 regular season finish, good for last place in the Appalachian Athletic Conference and the underdog role in the tournament's play-in game pitting the 8th and 9th seeds against each other for the right to play in the 8-team bracket to decide the conference champion.

And even facing 8th-seeded Virginia Intermont on Monday, February 22 seemed a formidable task, as the Cobras has defeated Montreat twice this year, including a 13-point win over the Cavaliers in McAlister Gymnasium on the final day of the regular season.

But in a fast-paced offensive display, the Cavaliers started their second season with a 97-95 overtime victory over Virginia Intermont that sends them into the AAC Tournament quarterfinals, where they will face Bluefield College.

Head Coach Jonathan Bennett had sensed his youthful team playing better and hoped for a small shift in his team's fortunes: "Our team has been the victim of last second shots and tough losses throughout the year and it was great for our guys to win a game and make big shots in big situations."

Making the biggest of those big shots was junior forward Matt Rushing from Mount Holly, NC.  With two seconds remaining in regulation, Rushing drilled a long 3-point field goal to force the overtime.  Rushing's heroics were indicative of the great game he played throughout the evening as he posted 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists.  

Vince Dombrowski, with 19 points, Christian Tonkins, with 16 points and 6 boards, and Dustin Harris, with 15 points and 9 rebounds, also played valiantly and helped offset the dual threat posed by the Cobras' Marquette Knight and Wade Bryant, who each scored 23.

On Wednesday, February 24, the Cavaliers face one of the four regular season champions of the AAC when they travel to Bluefield College and face the Rams, who finished their league slate at 11-5.

Montreat's men's basketball team is very young, with juniors and sophomores dominating the playing time and absorbing the pressure of a tough year.  And while getting battle-tested during the 2009-2010 season may ready Head Coach Jonathan Bennett's charges for brighter times ahead, the Cavaliers have had to bear up during a difficult stretch. 

Bennett's youthful squad dropped to 3-24 on the year when they fell on the road to league foe Bryan College on Saturday, February 13, 70-60, in another game that the Cavs led at times and during which they showed signs of the maturity and completeness needed to win.

But for now, the Cavaliers will have to be content learning how to win in the future as the Lions closed with a strong late run to pull away in a tight game.  Bennett appreciated his team's spirit: "I felt like we matched their intensity and played really hard tonight from start to finish.  They had a couple bench players that made two big three point shots late in the second half to give them the advantage and we were unable to recover from those shots."

The Lions' poetically-named Astral Guerrier, a junior power forward, scored 23 points and hauled in 7 rebounds for Bryan, who sit in second in the Appalachian Athletic Conference with a fine 10-4 record (and are 17-8 overall). 

Matt Rushing led the Cavs with 20 points and received able support from Vince Dombrowski and Dustin Harris, who each scored 13.  Proof that future editions of the Cavaliers team may just learn how to close out games after weathering this year is here: Rushing is a junior, Dombrowski and Harris are sophomores, and Travis Williams, who dished out 8 assists for Montreat, is a promising freshman.

But that's a metaphorical tomorrow.  In the literal tomorrow, Wednesday, February 17, the Cavaliers travel to Union College to play the Bulldogs, who carry a 9-5 conference record and 16-12 overall mark into the contest.