Wingate, N.C.----Tusculum College sophomore guard Dionte Grey (Johnson City, Tenn.) hit the game-winner with seven seconds remaining Sunday night, leading the Pioneers to a 76-74 double overtime victory over Wingate University in Cuddy Arena. The basket was Grey’s only hoop during the 10 minutes of extra time.
TC senior forward Rob Troutman (Mt. Washington, Ky.) led the visitors with 24 points. He hit six-of-12 from three-point land. All five starters hit double digits for Tusculum (5-9 overall, 2-2 SAC). Wingate junior guard Jaime Vaughn (Tallahassee, Fla.) led the Bulldogs with 24 points. Sophomore forward Odell Turner (Charlotte, N.C.) had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Wingate is 7-5 overall and 2-2 in the SAC.
Pioneer junior center Tommy Klempin (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) had 16 points and nine rebounds. Grey and junior guards Justin Steigerwald (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Kevin Vest (Dayton, Ohio) had 10 points each for Tusculum. Wingate sophomore forward Quan Alexander (Charlotte, N.C.) had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Grey kept Tusculum’s hopes alive in the first overtime period with a critical offensive rebound following a missed free throw attempt, setting up Vest’s game-tying jumper with 2.2 seconds left to send the game into a second extra frame.
In the first half, Tusculum used a 10-0 run, capped off by a Troutman trey, as TC led 18-9 with 5:27 remaining before halftime. Wingate would cut the deficit to three at 18-15, but TC would close out the half with an 8-2 spurt, including a pair of three-pointers by Troutman. The second triple came at the buzzer as TC took a 26-17 lead into the locker room.
Tusculum built its advantage to as many as 13 as Troutman knocked down two more treys to start the second half as the Pioneers led 34-21 with 17:15 left in regulation. Wingate would battle back, using a 9-2 run over a span of three minutes to tie the game at 44-44 following a three-point play by redshirt freshman forward Mike Tankersley (Hampton, Ga.) at the 5:12 mark of the second half. The Bulldogs would take their first lead since the 9:41 mark of the first period when Vaughn connected on a three-pointer with 4:20 left on the clock.
The lead would bounce back-and-forth with TC taking a 55-53 advantage with 1:29 left following a three-point play on Klempin’s tip-in. Wingate tied the game for the fifth time when Alexander converted a tip-in of his own at the 1:09 mark. Both teams had chances to win the game in regulation, getting shots off in the paint in the final moments of the contest, but none would fall.
In the first overtime period, Vaughn connected on back-to-back three-pointers as Wingate led 62-58 with 2:20 left on the scoreboard. TC kept in striking distance thanks to a pair of baskets by Steigerwald, the latter coming with 38 seconds remaining as TC trailed 64-62.
On the next possession, Steigerwald was whistled for his fifth personal foul with 20 seconds left, sending Vaughn to the foul line where he made his two free throws to put the Bulldogs back up by four (66-62).
Pioneer sophomore forward Brett Williams (Oviedo, Fla.) was fouled with 10 seconds left, sending him to the charity stripe where he connected on a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 66-64. TC rookie guard Sean Rowe (Tyrone, Ga.) stole the in-bounds pass by Vaughn and was fouled with six seconds remaining.
Rowe would miss both free throws, but Grey came up with the rebound and the assist to Vest who banked in the bucket with 2.2 seconds left, sending Tusculum to its first double-overtime contest in 21 seasons.
With Wingate leading 72-70 in the second overtime, Klempin came up with an offensive rebound and put-back to tie the game for a 10th time at 72-72 with 1:40 left. Alexander missed his jumper on the next possession and Williams came up with the rebound. Klempin was fouled with 48 seconds left as he made both free throws to give the Pioneers a 74-72 lead.
Wingate’s next possession was a wild one as the Bulldogs got off six shots in a wild 17-second frenzy. The flurry was capped by a made jumper from Turner to level the contest at 74-74 with 21 seconds remaining.
Following a timeout, the Pioneers worked the ball for the last shot as Grey drove down the lane and connected on the game-winning lay-up with less than eight seconds left. Wingate would get the ball to mid-court and call a timeout with 3.8 seconds remaining. Vaughn put up a jumper to tie the game, but his shot went off the rim and was hauled in by Alexander, but his tip-in came after the buzzer.
Wingate outrebounded Tusculum 44-37, thanks to 12 boards from Turner and nine from Alexander. Steigerwald and Troutman had six boards each for the Pioneers, backing Klempin’s nine-rebound effort. Steigerwald dished out a team-best five assists. Both Vest and Steigerwald played 49 of 50 minutes.
Bulldog sophomore point guard Ethan Kincaid (Morganton, N.C.) led Wingate with 43 minutes played, while Turner logged 42 minutes. Kincaid filled his statistics sheet with five points, five rebounds and a team-high six assists. Classmate Paidrick Matilus (Boynton Beach, Fla.) had nine points, four rebounds and two assists. Both Matilus and Vaughn played 39 minutes each.
(Special thanks to Tusculum College SID Dom Donnelly for his contributions to this article.)
