BOX SCORE
 
Montevallo, Ala.----- The seventh-seeded Wingate University Bulldogs saw their 2011-12 season come to a heartbreaking end after a 71-63 loss to the third-seeded Anderson University Trojans Sunday night in the NCAA Southeast Regional at BankTrust Arena. Wingate finishes at 21-12 overall after the second round loss, while the 14th-ranked Trojans move to 26-5 and into the regional championship game.
 
“Obviously I’m very disappointed in the result but I’m extremely proud of my basketball team,” Wingate head coach Brian Good says. “We had our chances but just missed some shots down the stretch and just didn’t get enough stops to win the game. We were able to execute those things over the last week but just couldn’t do it today.”
 
Fittingly, in their final games in the Bulldog blue and gold, senior guards Jaime Vaughn (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Chase Smith (Upper Marlboro, Md.) led Wingate in scoring. Vaughn, who finished his Bulldog career with 1,393 points, netted 19 points with three rebounds. Smith, playing in his 109th career game, added 12 points. Junior forward Odell Turner (Charlotte, N.C.) barely missed his second straight double-double, finishing with nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Classmate Quan Alexander (Charlotte, N.C.) had a strong all-around game with six points, eight rebounds, five steals, and four assists.
 
The first half was a near mirror image of the South Atlantic Conference tournament championship a week ago except with the roles reversed. Last week Wingate jumped out to an early lead and led by 14, only to see halftime lead shrink to four. Anderson jumped out to a 13-2 lead but the Bulldogs made a great run to close the half and only trail by two.
 
The Trojans came out on fire, hitting on five-of-eight shots, while Wingate could only hit one-of-five.  Anderson would take the 11-point lead at the first media timeout after consecutive three pointers from senior guard Nick Trull (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior guard Denzail Jones (Tuscaloosa, Ala.). Wingate would cut the lead down to five at 17-12 thanks to six straight points from Smith. Anderson pushed the lead to 13 with an 8-0 run.
 
Down 25-12 with just over nine minutes left in first half, the Bulldogs came alive, responding to the 8-0 Trojan run with a 17-3 spurt to grab their first lead of the day. Vaughn and Smith started the run with a layup and triple, respectively, while junior guard Eddie Lewis (Rocky Mount, N.C.) provided a spark off the bench with a trifecta to pull the ‘Dogs within four.
 
Vaughn would finish the flurry with another long range jumper to put Wingate ahead by one with just under two minutes left. The Trojans grabbed the lead right back on two Trull free throws to take a 33-31 lead into the break.
 
Anderson scored the first six points of the second half, taking a 39-31 lead on a jumper from senior guard Tyrell McDowell (Miami, Fla.). Wingate responded with an 11-3 run to tie the game at 42. Vaughn started the spurt with a layup, while adding a pair of threes to tie the game with 14 minutes remaining. The Trojans responded by pushing the lead back to seven on Trull’s three at the 9:10 mark. A pair of buckets from Jones, along with another triple from Trull put Anderson on top by 12 with 6:41 remaining.
 
Wingate refused to quit, scoring the next nine points to cut the deficit to three. Turner started the spurt with a layup, while adding a pair of free throws. Smith added a huge triple in the flurry to make it a one-possession game with four minutes left. The Bulldogs had a chance to tie the game on a three-point attempt from Smith, but he could not connect with two minutes left. Jones hit two free throws on the other end, while Trull buried another three to extend the lead back to eight with a minute remaining. Wingate would get no closer than four the rest of the way.
 
Anderson shot 41.1 percent from the field, while knocking down eight-of-16 from beyond the arc (50 percent). Wingate shot 34.5 percent, while hitting nine-of-21 shots from three-point range (42.9 percent). The Trojans held a 40-33 rebounding advantage, while converting 12 Wingate turnovers into 15 points.

Vaughn and Smith are the first two players to play four years under coach Good at Wingate. “I think this NCAA tournament run says so much about who Chase and Jaime are, and the way they went out as Bulldogs,” Good says about his two seniors. “I don’t think there was anyone that wanted it more out there tonight. They absolutely played their hearts out and have so much to be proud of today. And they should be proud of the future of this program because of their groundwork.”