Wingate, N.C.----The third-seeded Wingate University Bulldogs will host the sixth-seeded Eagles of Carson-Newman College in quarterfinal action of the 2012 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball tournament Wednesday night at 8 p.m. The Bulldogs finished 17-11 overall in the regular season, with a 13-5 mark in league play. Carson-Newman went 15-13 overall and 8-10 in the SAC.
 
Wingate closed out the regular season in emphatic fashion on Saturday, notching an 86-53 victory over Brevard College. Senior guar Jaime Vaughn (Tallahassee, Fla.) celebrated senior day in style, with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Classmate Chase Smith (Upper Marlboro, Md.) added 15 points on five-of-eight shooting. Wingate shot 52.6 percent from the field, while holding Brevard to 30.5 percent shooting on the afternoon.
 
The victory was the seventh consecutive Wingate win that came by at least 14 points. In those seven wins, the Bulldogs outscored their opponents by153 points, for an average margin of victory of 21.9. Wingate finished the season with an average margin of victory of 11.2 in SAC contests.
 
Last season, Wingate opened SAC Tournament play at home against Brevard, prevailing 84-64 to advance to the semifinals. Junior forward Odell Turner (Charlotte, N.C.) had 25 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while Vaughn added 23 points, five assists and four steals. The Bulldogs followed with a 65-60 win over Catawba to advance to the championship game. Junior forward Quan Alexander (Charlotte, N.C.) had 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting, while Turner added 12 points and nine boards.
 
The Bulldogs faced Lincoln Memorial in the championship game. The Railsplitters took a 16-point lead early in the second half. Wingate used a 9-0 run to cut LMU’s lead to three at the 9:15 mark on Turner’s layup. The Bulldogs trailed by four with three minutes remaining, but a 7-0 Lincoln Memorial run put the lead back in double figures in the final seconds. Turner led the Wingate attack with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Vaughn added 12 points.
 
The Bulldogs and Eagles met twice in the regular season, with Wingate winning both contests. The ‘Dogs have won six straight against the Eagles. Turner’s 18 points led Wingate to an 83-74 home victory. Vaughn added 16, while junior guard Paidrick Matilus (Boynton Beach, Fla.) had 15. Ishmael Sanders led the Eagles with a game-high 24 points. The ‘Dogs notched a 78-64 victory at Carson-Newman, getting 15 points and 11 rebounds from sophomore forward Deion Turman (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Turner added 15 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals. Sanders led the Eagles with 17 points.
 
Wingate’s balanced attack features three players scoring in double figures, with nine Bulldogs scoring at least five points per game. Vaughn leads the way with 14.8 points per game, ranking 11th in the SAC. Turner is 18th with 11.1 points per game, while ranking third with 1.68 blocks per game and fifth with 6.6 rebounds per contest. Matilus is scoring 10.8 points per game, while ranking third in the league, shooting 89 percent from the free throw line.
 
Junior guard Ethan Kincaid (Morganton, N.C.) leads the SAC with 4.41 assists per game. He ranks third in assist-to-turnover ratio, while leading the team and ranking eighth in the league with 3.93 defensive rebounds per game. Junior guard Eddie Lewis (Rocky Mount, N.C.) leads the SAC, shooting 53.9 percent from three-point range. Smith ranks second, shooting 47.9 percent from beyond the arc, while Vaughn is ninth at 39.3 percent. Wingate leads the league in blocked shots. Turner ranks third, with Turman and sophomore forward Jeff Parker (Madison, N.C.) tied for fourth.
 
The winner of the Wingate-Carson-Newman contest will take on the winner of the Lincoln Memorial-Tusculum game. That semifinal matchup will take place Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Hickory. The championship game will be Sunday at 2 p.m.