Box Score
 
Mount Olive, N.C.----Mount Olive’s Darrell Patterson had 28 points Wednesday night, leading the host Trojans to an 83-78 victory over Wingate University in NCAA Division II men’s basketball action. The Trojans improve to 2-7 on the season, while the Bulldogs fall to 5-4 overall.

Patterson knocked down eight-of-14 shots from the field on the night while connecting on nine-of-11 free throws. Mahamed Ibrahim added 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks for the Trojans, while Jordan McCain had 13 points. Dory Hines registered six points, nine assists and six rebounds for Mount Olive.

Sophomore guard Ryan Daye (Burlington, N.C.) had a career-high 22 points to lead the Wingate attack, going seven-for-nine from the field and two-for-three from beyond the arc. Senior guard Paidrick Matilus (Boynton Beach, Fla.) added 21 points and five rebounds, going seven-of-12 from the field and three-for-five from three-point range. Junior center Deion Turman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) contributed 10 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs, while senior guard Ethan Kincaid (Morganton, N.C.) had six points, six rebounds and seven assists.

A Matilus layup, followed by a pair of Turman free throws gave the Bulldogs a three-point lead eight minutes into the opening half. Mount Olive answered with an 8-0 run, taking a 19-14 lead on a layup from Dontrell Brite. A Daye layup and Matilus triple tied it at 19 with 9:26 to go, but a pair of threes from McCain pushed the Trojan advantage back to five. Triples from Ibrahim and Brite gave Mount Olive a 40-29 lead with 1:49 left in the half. A three from senior guard Eddie Lewis (Rocky Point, N.C.), followed by two free throws from Daye cut the lead to six. Patterson knocked down a three in the final minute, giving the Trojans a 43-34 halftime lead.

A jumper from Patterson, along with a pair of free throws from Jordan Gaffney gave Mount Olive a 15-point lead seven minutes into the second half. The Bulldogs answered with an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to four. Daye started it with a three and a layup, while threes from Lewis and Matilus capped the flurry. The Trojans pushed the advantage back to nine on a Patterson layup with 7:14 remaining.

A layup and a three-point play from Daye, along with a dunk from Turman made it a two-point game with 4:26 to go. Free throws from Patterson, along with a layup from Kendall Hargrove put the Trojans on top by eight with under two minutes remaining. The Bulldogs would get no closer than five the rest of the way.

Mount Olive shot 43.8 percent from the field, hitting eight-of-26 shots from beyond the arc (30.8 percent). Wingate shot 52.8 percent from the field, knocking down seven-of-14 shots from three-point range (50 percent). The Trojans converted 21 Wingate turnovers into 27 points on the night. The Bulldogs out-rebounded Mount Olive 36-30, outscoring the Trojans 38-26 in the paint.

The Bulldogs return to action Saturday, Jan. 5, hosting Tusculum at 4 p.m.