BARBOURVILLE, Ky. – Sophomore Aaron Dunaway (Lexington, Ky.) might have scored a team-high 18 points Tuesday evening against Montreat (N.C.) College, but the fans will remember the last three points that gave Union College a 74-73 Appalachian Athletic Conference victory.

Down by two, 73-71, Dunaway took the game-winning shot from the left corner off an assist from Brian Kirk (Augusta, Ky.) The ball went in with 9.9 seconds left for Montreat. The Cavaliers of Montreat had a chance for the tie, but Kinard Barnett was blocked by James Johnson (Lexington, Ky.) as the clock expired.

Union had to battle back over the last four minutes of the contest. The game was tied at 66 apiece with 3:51 only to see Montreat score four straight points in the next minute. A pair of free throws from Johnson cut the lead in half. Barnett pushed Montreat’s lead back to four points. The Bulldogs answered with a Chris Stunson (Richmond, Ky.) 3-pointer with 1:01 left. A free throw from Matthew Njoku gave Montreat a 2-point advantage before Dunaway’s game winner.

The game started off great for Union. The Bulldogs scored the first seven points of the game in a three minute span. Montreat battled back to make it a four point contest, 23-19, halfway through the first half. Hubertus von Heyden (Neulengbach, Austria) knocked down a field goal and Nathaniel Peyton (West Liberty, Ky.) followed that up with a 3-pointer to give Union a nine-point lead.

The Bulldogs watched the lead dwindle down to three, but they answered with seven straight points for a 39-29 lead. The Bulldogs would take a 44-39 advantage into the locker room at the break.

Stunson finished with 17 points and Kirk chipped in 13 more. Michael Hester (Independence, Ky.) dished out seven assists, a season high and the most by any Bulldog this season and von Heyden grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Nkoku led the Cavs with 22 points while Aaron Collanzo scored 10 points.

The Bulldogs improved to 5-6 in conference play and 15-8 overall. The Bulldogs also extended their home winning streak to a season-best three games. Meanwhile Montreat fell to 9-13 overall and 6-5 in the AAC.

Union opens the February portion of the schedule Saturday with a 7:30 p.m. game at Covenant (Ga.) College. The Bulldogs used a 76-69 win over Covenant for Union’s first conference win of the season on Dec. 4

Bulldog Notes

• Montreat won the first meeting of the season against the Bulldogs, 88-77, on Dec. 1.
• The 44 points in the first half is the most scored by Union in any first half this season.
• Union is 12-1 when leading at halftime.
• The Bulldogs finished 6-3 in the month of January.
• This is the fifth time that Kirk, Stunson, Dunaway, Johnson and von Heyden has started this season, and the group is 4-1.