Mars Hill, N.C.----The Wingate University men’s basketball team will make a journey up the mountain Wednesday, traveling to Mars Hill College for an 8 p.m. South Atlantic Conference contest. The Bulldogs enter the game with 150 SAC victories, third-best in the nine-team league's history.

Wingate split two SAC contests last week. On Saturday afternoon, Brevard edged Wingate 88-87 in Cuddy Arena. Five players hit double digits for the host Bulldogs. Senior guard Larry Staley (Charlotte, N.C.) had 20 points and a game-high five steals. Sophomore guard Jaime Vaughn (McDonough, Ga.) had 18 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Wingate freshman guards Paidrick Matilus (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Ethan Kincaid (Morganton, N.C.) contributed 13 points each. Matilus led the ‘Dogs with eight rebounds, while Kincaid dished out a game-high seven assists. Freshman forward Quan Alexander (Charlotte, N.C.) added 12 points and six rebounds for the hosts.

The contest featured eight lead changes and 12 ties. The Tornados led 55-40 with 18:17 remaining in the contest. The 15-point advantage was Brevard’s biggest of the evening.

Wingate chipped away at the deficit, cutting the margin to 63-61 on a three-point field goal by Staley at the 11:01 mark. The Staley hoop completed a 23-6 run for the Bulldogs. Six different Bulldogs scored during the flurry, led by Staley’s nine points.

Brevard kept the lead for the next seven minutes until Vaughn hit a fade-away three-point field goal with 4:20 to play, giving Wingate an 80-78 edge. Brevard answered with back-to-back hoops to give the Tornados an 82-80 lead they would not relinquish.

Another hoop put Brevard up 87-80 with 2:20 to play and capped a 9-0 run. Wingate answered, as Matilus collected a steal and fed sophomore guard Tracy Parks (St. Petersburg, Fla.) for a lay-up at the 1:44 mark.

Matilus hit a jumper after another Brevard turnover to make the score 87-84 Tornados with 1:37 remaining. After the two teams traded turnovers and Brevard missed a jumper, Matilus nailed a trifecta on a feed from Vaughn to tie the score at 87 with 24 seconds left.

Brevard hit the winning free throw with six ticks left on the clock. After two Wingate time-outs, the Bulldogs went to work. Matilus got a good look from 12 feet, but Brevard deflected the potential game-winning shot to clinch the victory. The buzzer sounded during the scrum for the rebound and the Bulldogs could not get another shot.

Brevard hit 24-of-26 free throws (92.3 percent). Brevard’s Jonathan Whitson converted 14-of-15 charity tosses, including his 14 in a row. Both Whitson (eight-of-14) and Josh Roper (13-of-20) hit better than 50 percent from the floor as the Tornados shot 51.7 percent (30-of-58) for the game. Brevard registered 56.5 percent in the crucial second half (13-of-23).

Wingate’s bench outscored Brevard’s reserves 22-9, thanks to Kincaid’s 13 markers. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Tornados 34-31. Wingate shot 49.3 for the afternoon (36-of-73).

The Wingate men’s basketball team never trailed Wednesday night, leading from wire-to-wire in a 93-81 SAC victory over Carson-Newman College in Holt Fieldhouse. Five Bulldogs hit double figures in the road win.

Entering this week’s play, Wingate is 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the SAC. The Carson-Newman victory is Wingate’s fourth away-from-home triumph this season, as the Bulldogs double their 2008-09 road victory total (two).

Wingate freshman center Odell Turner (Charlotte, N.C.) had 18 points for the visiting Bulldogs. Staley hit seven-of-eight shots from the floor en route to a 16-point performance. Staley filled out his stat sheet with four rebounds and a team-high four assists.

Matilus added 13 points on five-of-seven shooting, while Alexander had 11 points and six rebounds. Kincaid had 10 points and five rebounds off the bench, while senior guard/forward David Johnson (Durham, N.C.) flirted with a double-double. Johnson had nine points and a team-best seven rebounds.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution of 2,159 students offering active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, world travel, career discovery and community service.

Wingate offers more than 40 undergraduate majors in arts and sciences, business, communication, education, fine arts, music and sport sciences. It also offers graduate degrees in business, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration. In addition, the school awards the doctor of pharmacy and the doctor of education degrees.

Bulldog student-athletes compete in 19 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past three years.

Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 34 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 43 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.