Greenwood, S.C.----The Wingate University men’s basketball team rallied from an 18-point first half deficit to spoil Lander University’s home opener with a 79-70 victory in an NCAA Division II Southeast Region contest Tuesday night at Horne Arena.

Wingate (2-2 overall) rallied from a 27-9 deficit to close within four at halftime. The Bulldogs trailed 49-39 with 14 minutes to go before going on a tear from behind the three-point line to close out the victory.

Tracy Parks led the Bulldogs with 16 points. Odell Turner scored 14 points, while Larry Staley added 11 points. Jaime Vaughn had nine points and seven assists.

Tovi Bailey led the Bearcats with 15 points. Da’Shon Barrino added 12 points, while Greg Smalls scored 10. Darius Johnson and Curtis Milner led Lander with eight rebounds each.

“I think the most important thing coming out of this (game) is our young guys getting a win on the road,” Wingate head coach Brian Good says. “Our bench was great. We played 12 guys tonight and all seven that came off the bench gave us something positive every time on the floor. Another great thing looking at the stat sheet is that we had 18 assists and only three second-half turnovers.”

Vaughn’s three-pointer in the opening minute of the second half got Wingate within one at 39-38. After the teams traded free throws, Lander’s Johnson hit a jumper and then Bailey dunked on an alley-oop pass from Bailey to give the Bearcats a 46-39 lead.

After a time out, Roy Hinson scored on an offensive rebound and Brenton Harris hit a free throw to give Lander a double-digit lead (49-39) with 14 minutes left to complete the 9-0 run.

Wingate’s Parks hit a three-pointer to end the scoring drought and teammate David Johnson added a triple to cut it to five at 52-47. After the teams traded baskets, Parks hit a three-pointer to pull the Bulldogs within 58-56 to start a 13-2 run.

Turner’s traditional three-point play closed Wingate within one. An inside hoop by Paidrick Matilus gave the visitors their first lead of the game (61-60) with 7:13 to go. Vaughn added a basket and Turner a three-pointer to push the Bulldog lead to 66-60.

Bailey’s three-pointer from the right side pulled Lander within 66-65 at the 5:05 mark. But Parks, Matilus and Staley hit trifectas to give Wingate its largest lead of the game at 75-65 with 2:54 to go.

Lander scored the game’s first seven points on Bailey’s three-pointer from the left corner and Milner’s two inside baskets. After Wingate closed within 7-4, the Bearcats went on an 11-0 run highlighted by three-pointers Smalls and Hinson to make it 18-4 with 13:42 left in the first half.

The Bulldogs cut their deficit to 23-9, but Barrino went high off the glass for a lay-up, Antonio Pope dunked and Deangelo Spruill hit a jumper to push Lander’s lead to 27-9 at the 11:09 mark. The 18-point margin would be the largest Bearcat lead of the game.

Wingate came storming back with a 24-8 run. A three-pointer by Matilus pulled the Bulldogs within 29-16 with 9:12 to go. After Lander’s Barrino scored, Wingate went on a 10-3 run to cut its deficit to 32-26 on Bradley Van Staalduinen’s two free throws.

Smalls hit a jumper to push the Bearcat lead to eight (34-26) with 3:47 to go. But Chase Smith’s three-pointer pulled Wingate within two (35-33) at the 2:10 mark to complete the 24-8 run. The contest remained a two-point game until Bailey hit a fade-away jumper at the buzzer to give Lander a 39-35 halftime lead.

The Bearcats made 26-of-63 shots from the floor (41 percent), 13-of-26 free throws (50 percent), and five-of-13 from behind the three-point line (39 percent).

Wingate hit 28-of-69 shots (41 percent), 12-of-14 free throws (86 percent) and 11-of-26 from behind the arc (42 percent).

Lander had a 46-40 edge on the boards and 18 turnovers to only 12 miscues for Wingate. The Bearcats fell to 0-2 with the loss. They will host Southern Wesleyan Saturday afternoon as they search for Jeff Burkhamer’s first win as Lander’s head coach. The Bulldogs return home Saturday, entertaining Belmont Abbey College at 2 p.m. in Cuddy Arena.

(Thanks to Lander University Assistant AD for Media Relations Bob Stoner for providing this story.) 

Newspaper Box Score

Wingate vs Lander

11/24/09 7:30 p.m. at Horne Arena, Greenwood, S.C.

 

WINGATE MEN 79, LANDER 70

WINGATE (2-2 overall)

Parks, Tracy 6-13 0-0 16; Turner, Odell 5-12 3-4 14; Staley, Larry 4-5 2-2 11; Vaughn, Jaime 3-9 2-2 9; Matilus, Paidrick 3-9 0-0 8; Alexander, Quan 2-5 3-4 7; Van Staalduinen, Bradley 2-5 2-2 6; Johnson, David 2-6 0-0 5; Smith, Chase 1-1 0-0 3; Bilal, Michael 0-0 0-0 0; Lewis, Eddie 0-0 0-0 0; Kincaid, Ethan 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 28-69 12-14 79.

LANDER (0-2 overall)

Bailey, Tovi 6-9 1-2 15; Barrino, Da'Shon 5-10 2-4 12; Smalls, Greg 3-11 2-5 10; Harris, Brenton 4-6 1-2 9; Milner, Curtis 2-7 3-4 7; Johnson, Darius 2-8 2-4 6; Hinson, Roy 2-7 0-2 5; Spruill, Deangelo 1-3 2-2 4; Pope, Antonio 1-2 0-0 2; Young, Antonio 0-0 0-1 0; Mochoskay, Jacob 0-0 0-0 0; Kelley, Kevin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-63 13-26 70.

Wingate.......................   35   44  -   79

Lander........................   39   31  -   70

3-point goals--Wingate 11-26 (Parks, Tracy 4-7; Matilus, Paidrick 2-5; Johnson, David 1-5; Turner, Odell 1-1; Vaughn, Jaime 1-4; Smith, Chase 1-1; Staley, Larry 1-1; Kincaid, Ethan 0-1; Alexander, Quan 0-1), Lander 5-13 (Smalls, Greg 2-6; Bailey, Tovi 2-2; Hinson, Roy 1-3; Spruill, Deangelo 0-2). Fouled out--Wingate-Vaughn, Jaime, Lander-None. Rebounds--Wingate 40 (Matilus, Paidrick 6), Lander 46 (Johnson, Darius 8; Milner, Curtis 8). Assists--Wingate 18 (Vaughn, Jaime 7), Lander 12 (Smalls, Greg 3; Bailey, Tovi 3). Total fouls--Wingate 17, Lander 14. Technical fouls--Wingate-None, Lander-None. A-275