Hickory, N.C.----The third-seeded Wingate University men’s basketball team will face top-seeded (and NCAA number 12) Lincoln Memorial University in the championship game of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament at the Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Complex Sunday in Hickory, N.C. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. The Bulldogs have won three Food Lion SAC tournament titles.

Wingate is 19-9 overall; the Bulldogs finished in a tie for second in the conference standings, posting a 12-6 ledger in the SAC. Third-seeded Wingate won Wednesday’s Food Lion SAC tournament quarterfinal match-up 84-64 over Brevard. The Bulldogs defeated Catawba 65-60 in a tough semi-final contest Saturday night.

The blue-and-gold Bulldogs are making their first title game appearance in four years. On March 4, 2007, Wingate All-American Sean Barnette hit a career-high 35 points as the Bulldogs won their second consecutive Food Lion SAC tournament crown with a 97-82 victory over Catawba at the Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Complex.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private comprehensive university with more than 2,300 students on two campuses in Wingate and Matthews, North Carolina. The university offers 32 undergraduate majors, 36 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, physician assistant studies and sports administration and doctorates in pharmacy and education.

Wingate students gain the tools and support they need to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. The campus community offers in-class learning, out-of-class experiences, strong mentors, a competitive yet caring environment and rewarding community service opportunities for a complete educational experience.

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 four years.

Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 38 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 47 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.