BOX SCORE

Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University junior guard Ethan Kincaid scored a season-high 16 points with four three-pointers, helping the Bulldogs to a 63-43 South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball victory over visiting Tusculum College Saturday afternoon at Cuddy Arena. Wingate (14-10 overall, 10-4 SAC) has won four in a row and seven of nine. The Bulldogs sweep the season series with the TC Pioneers (8-14 overall, 5-9 SAC).

The Bulldogs utilized runs of 14-0, 15-6 and 15-4 as Wingate finished the contest shooting 50 percent from the floor, while limiting Tusculum to a season-low 28.3 field goal percentage. Tusculum senior guard Kevin Vest (Dayton, Ohio) led the Pioneers with his 12 points, while classmate and backcourt mate Justin Steigerwald (Cincinnati, Ohio) accounted for 11 points in his 40 minutes of play.

Tusculum took an early 6-2 lead to start the game, following four points by Vest and a basket by junior guard Nicholas Spinks (Greensboro, N.C.). Wingate responded with 14 unanswered points over 4:34 to take a 16-6 advantage following a free throw by sophomore forward Jeffrey Parker (Madison, N.C.) at the 13:20 mark of the half.

The Bulldogs increased its lead out to 21-8 on a three-pointer by junior guard Paidrick Matilus (Boynton Beach, Fla.) at the 10:48 mark. Tusculum closed the gap with a 9-0 spurt, including five points by freshman forward Neal Spinks (Greensboro, N.C.) and four straight free throws by Vest as the Pioneers trailed 21-17. Tusculum would cut the deficit again to only two points at the intermission, including seven points by Steigerwald in the final minutes of the first half.

Wingate opened the second half with a 15-6 run during the first 9:08 of the period, including back-to-back three-pointers by Kincaid as the ’Dogs led 43-31 with 11:52 remaining in the game. The Pioneers cut the Wingate lead to single digits at 48-39 with 8:25 left on the clock, but the Bulldogs closed out the game with a 15-4 run as the Pioneers missed seven of their final eight shots during that time frame to end the contest.

Bulldog senior guard Jaime Vaughn (Tallahassee, Fla.) finished the game with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Matilus accounted for eight points in the win. Kincaid added five assists, three rebounds and one blocked shot to his Saturday statistics ledger.

Neal Spinks tallied seven points and four rebounds off the bench for the visiting Pioneers, while 6-10 senior center Tommy Klempin (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) finished with four points and a team-high six rebounds in the loss.

Eleven of 11 Bulldogs who participated grabbed at least one rebound as Wingate won the battle of the boards 30-26. Sophomore center Deion Turman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) made his presence known with five rebounds and a game-high four blocked shots. Wingate recorded eight rejections Saturday; the Bulldogs topped the SAC charts with 145 blocked shots this season.

Wingate hits the road for three of its last four regular season contests. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs visit Newberry College for a 8 p.m. contest. TC will play three of its remaining four regular season contests at home, beginning with Wednesday’s 8 p.m. contest against Anderson (S.C.) University.

(Special thanks to Tusculum College Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Dom Donnelly for his contributions to this story.)