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Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs held the visiting Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne University to 30 percent shooting from the field Wednesday night, registering a 65-44 victory in South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball action in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldogs hold an opponent under 50 points for the second straight contest, improving to 7-4 overall and 3-0 in the SAC. The Bears fall to 8-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference. Wingate is 3-0 in the SAC for the first time since the 2001-02 season.  

Senior guard Paidrick Matilus (Boynton Beach, Fla.) led the Wingate attack with 13 points, adding five rebounds and two assists. Senior forward Odell Turner (Charlotte, N.C.) notched his third double-double of the season, piling up 12 points and 13 rebounds. Junior forward Jeff Parker (Madison, N.C.) added 11 points, three rebounds and three blocks, while sophomore guard Ryan Daye (Burlington, N.C.) had nine points. 

“I thought our defensive effort was solid,” head coach Brian Good says. “We shared the ball well, but we need to focus on taking acre of the ball better.”

Allan Jones had 13 points to lead the Lenoir-Rhyne attack. Denzel Dillingham and B.J. Beasley added seven points each for the Bears. 

The Bulldogs came out hot, taking a 12-2 lead 5:23 into the contest. Matilus had seven points in the spurt, while Daye capped it with a triple. A three-point play from Beasley trimmed the lead to seven at the 13:59 mark, but a triple from senior guard Eddie Lewis (Rocky Point, N.C.) and a Quan Alexander (Charlotte, N.C.) jumper pushed the advantage to 15 with 8:58 remaining in the half. 

Back-to-back jumpers from Jones got LRU to within seven at 25-18 with three minutes to go in the half. Jumpers from Turner and freshman guard Xavier Griffin (Marshville, N.C.) pushed the lead back to 11 with 1:19 remaining. A dunk from Beasley made it 29-20 at halftime. 

Layups from Turner and Matilus gave Wingate a 41-26 lead with 14:18 remaining. A Dillingham layup helped the Bears get back to within 12 with seven minutes left, but an 8-2 run pushed the lead to 18. Parker had six points in the stretch, capped by a dunk with 4:17 remaining to make it 58-40. Freshman forward Jonathan Golden-Calvin (Columbia, S.C.) knocked down a jumper with 1:10 remaining to give Wingate its largest lead of the night at 65-44. 

The Bulldogs shot 52.3 percent from the field, shooting above 50 percent for the league-best fifth time this season. Wingate hit just two-of-10 shots from three-point range (20 percent). The Bears hit only 17-of-56 shots from the field (30.4 percent), while hitting one-of-14 shots from beyond the arc (7.1 percent). The Bulldogs dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Bears 43-26 on the night, including a 33-14 edge in defensive rebounds. 

The Bulldogs return to action Saturday, traveling to Mars Hill for a 4 p.m. start. Lenoir-Rhyne travels to Brevard Saturday at 4 p.m.