MONTREAT, N.C. - Montreat (N.C.) took a big first half lead, and never looked back, knocking off the Union College men’s basketball team, 76-48, in Appalachian Athletic Conference action on Thursday evening.

With the loss, Union fell to 10-13 overall, 4-8 in the AAC, while Montreat improved to 8-14, 3-8 in the AAC with the victory.

In the first half, Montreat jumped out to a double-digit lead, holding a 14-point edge (38-24) at the break. It was more of the same in the second half, as the Cavaliers outscored the Bulldogs by the same 38-24 ledger to record the big 28-point home AAC win.

In the loss, the Bulldogs were hampered by poor shooting from the floor all night, as UC finished the night shooting just 26.7 percent (16-of-60) on their way to scoring their lowest point total of the year. Montreat also outrebounded Union by a large margin of 48-25 (36 of Montreat’s 48 ‘boards were defensive).

The Union men’s basketball team returns to action on Saturday, hosting Virginia Intermont at Robsion Arena. Tip-off in the AAC matchup is set for 6 p.m.