Montevallo, Ala.----- After playing exactly one week ago in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament championship game, the seventh-seeded Wingate University Bulldogs and third-seeded Anderson University Trojans will face off in the NCAA Southeast Regional semifinals Sunday night at 6 p.m. on the campus of the University of Montevallo.
 
The fourth meeting between the two teams this season will have the most on the line as the winner will earn a spot in the regional final, played Tuesday night in BankTrust Arena. The other regional semifinal game will also feature a SAC member as number four seed Lincoln Memorial plays top seed and host Montevallo.
 
“I think it makes for an interesting game for both teams,” Wingate head coach Brian Good says, who picked up his first NCAA tournament coaching win Saturday. “We obviously both know what each other does as far as schemes and the strengths and weaknesses. Not to over simplify things but it will come down to who plays harder and who executes better.”
 
The semifinal showdown features the two hottest teams in the regional. Both teams have only lost once in their last 12 games, with the single defeats coming to each other. The Bulldogs knocked off the Trojans 66-59 last Sunday in the SAC championship game to earn the league’s automatic bid. Wingate led wire-to-wire to pick up their first win over Anderson since they joined the conference.    
 
Wingate held the Trojans to just 30 percent shooting in the championship. In the two regular season games, Anderson shot close to 40 percent. Since the beginning of the new year the Bulldogs are 13-0 when outshooting opponents and just 1-3 when being outshot. Two of the three losses were to the Trojans.
 
Wingate sophomore forward Deion Turman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was a big part of Anderson forward Taylor Shugart (Rock Hill, S.C.) shooting just 1-for-11 from the field in the SAC championship. “Defensive intensity was much better than the previous two meetings,” Turman says when asked about the difference from regular season and tournament. “We played our game in the tournament championship, unlike first two meetings where we fell into what they wanted to do.”
 
Turman also realized that Wingate needed 40 minutes of strong defense instead of stepping up intensity late in half. “We really picked up our defense yesterday against USC Aiken down the stretch and against Anderson we just have to continue to do what has made us successful and gotten us to this point,” continued Turman. “We have to be patient on offense against their zone.”
 
Heading into Sunday’s action, only two seven seeds, including the Bulldogs, made it past the first round. The Trojans won the Southeast Regional last year in Augusta as the seven seed. Anderson and Wingate are the only two South Atlantic Conference men’s schools that have made the Division II Elite Eight.

(Wingate University Director of Broadcasting and Productions and sports information assistant Ryan Brown wrote this article. Brown is a 2006 Wingate graduate with a B.A. degree in Communication Studies.)