Hartsville, S.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs held Coker College to 28 percent shooting Wednesday night en route to a 58-55 victory in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action. Wingate improves to 18-7 overall and 14-5 in the SAC, while the Cobras fall to 8-15 overall and 4-15 in the conference. The win clinches a first-round home game in the conference tournament for the third-place Bulldogs.

Freshman Mike Baez (Huntersville, N.C.) had 14 points and eight rebounds to lead the Wingate attack, adding two assists. Sophomore Kerigan Farley (Hickory, N.C.) also had 14 points, adding six boards while going eight-for-eight at the free throw line. Junior Isiah Cureton (Waxhaw, N.C.) contributed 12 points, a block and a steal on three-of-four shooting.

Donte Samuels had 12 points to lead the Coker attack, going one-for-11 from the field while hitting 10-of-13 at the free throw line. Aubrey Daniel added 10 points, going three-of-13 from the field, while Trey Marshall and Jalen Watson contributed eight points each.

A Lee McCall (Indian Land, S.C.) bucket gave Wingate a 10-8 lead at the 12-minute mark, but a Marshall triple put the Cobras on top 15-12 at the 6:46 mark. The 'Dogs answered with a 21-7 run to take a double-digit lead. Layups from Baez, McCall and Farley started the spurt while a Baez dunk and Farley layup made it 30-22. A Xavier Griffin (Marshville, N.C.) layup with 57 seconds left put the 'Dogs on top by 11, but A Trey James jumper at the buzzer trimmed the halftime lead to nine at 35-26.

Three free throws from Samuels got Coker within a point five minutes into the second half. Baez answered with a three, while six Farley free throws helped the 'Dogs take a 52-44 lead with eight minutes remaining.

A Watson layup got Coker within three, but Cureton answered with a triple to push the advantage back to six with four minutes to go. Cureton added another three at the 3:34 mark to make it 58-50. A Marshall jumper and a Jalal Abdul-Azeez three got Coker within three at 58-55 with 1:18 remaining. Wingate missed a three on its possession, but a Coker turnover gave the ball back to the Bulldogs. Another missed three gave the Cobras one last chance, but a three from Samuels came up short, giving Wingate the victory.

The Bulldogs shot 36.2 percent from the field, hitting four-of-18 shots from three-point range (22.2 percent). Coker shot 28.1 percent from the field, the lowest percentage against Wingate all season, while also making just 16 field goals, the least allowed by the Bulldogs. The Cobras were five-for-25 from beyond the arc (20 percent). Wingate held a 45-32 rebounding advantage. The 'Dogs committed a season-high 21 turnovers, but also turned 12 Coker turnovers into 19 points. Wingate won despite making a season-low 17 field goals.

The Bulldogs are back in action Saturday, traveling to Carson-Newman for a 4 p.m. start.