Men's Basketball | 3/4/2016 10:33:00 AM

Championship Central | Live Video | Live Stats

Greenville, S.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs are in the SAC Tournament semifinals Saturday night, facing No. 20 Queens at 8 p.m. in Timmons Arena. It will be the seventh time this season the Bulldogs have faced a top-20 opponent. Wingate is 3-3 against ranked teams this season, including a victory over the Royals in Cuddy Arena. Free HD video will be available for the semifinal game, along with live stats.

The Bulldogs enter the semifinals 21-8 overall after going 16-6 in SAC play. The 16 league wins are the most in program history, while it is the first time since the 2007-08 season Wingate has won 20 contests in the regular season. The Bulldogs have played a ranked opponent six times this season, picking up wins over sixth-ranked Mount Olive, ninth-ranked Queens and No. 20 UNC Pembroke. Two of the three setbacks came against Lincoln Memorial, currently ranked second. The other loss was at Queens.

This Wingate's first trip to the semifinals in Greenville since the 2012-13 season, when the 'Dogs captured their second straight SAC Tournament title. Wingate is ranked sixth in the NCAA Southeast Region poll, looking for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2012-13 season, when the Bulldogs advanced to their second consecutive regional semifinals.

Wingate is in the SAC Tournament semifinals thanks to a 75-69 victory over Carson-Newman Wednesday night in Cuddy Arena. All-SAC Freshman Team selection Mike Baez (Huntersville, N.C.) poured in a career-high 25 points, adding 10 rebounds while going nine-of-14 from the field to lead the Bulldogs. Junior Josh Dominguez (Matthews, N.C.) added 12 points, hitting three-of-five shots from beyond the arc while sophomore Zeriq Lolar (Orlando, Fla.) went three-for-four from three-point range, scoring nine points.

Wingate and Queens met twice in the regular season, with each team winning at home. The Bulldogs prevailed 71-70 in Cuddy Arena in January, getting 16 points from Baez and 14 points from junior Anthanee Doyle (Holly Springs, N.C.). Second team All-SAC selection Isiah Cureton (Waxhaw, N.C.) added 13 points for the Bulldogs, who held the nation's fourth-most efficient offense to 40 percent shooting from the field. Rob Lewis led the Royals with 19 points, going six-of-17 from the field.

Queens countered with a 91-75 victory in Charlotte, shooting 54.2 percent from the field led by Sean Morgan's 24 points on eight-of-eight shooting. Lewis added 19 points while the Royals out-rebounded Wingate 43-32. Baez led the Bulldogs with 22 points, while Doyle added 13 points.

Wingate leads the SAC and ranks eighth nationally in blocked shots. The Bulldogs also lead the league in scoring defense, ranking second in field goal percentage defense and defensive rebounding and third in rebounding margin. After facing the national leader in field goal percentage Wednesday night in Carson-Newman, the 'Dogs take on Queens Saturday, who ranks fourth (51 percent). If Wingate were to win, there would be a chance the Bulldogs would face the number three field goal percentage offense in the championship in Lincoln Memorial (51.5 percent).

Cureton leads Wingate's balanced attack with 14.1 points per game, shooting 46.4 percent from the field and 82.6 percent at the free throw line. He also leads the team in rebounds and steals, ranking second in blocks and third in assists. Baez scores 13.0 points per contest and is tied for the team lead in rebounding with Cureton while ranking second on the team with 49 threes. Doyle has knocked down a team-best 60 triples on the season, averaging 10.4 points per contest.

Senior guard Xavier Griffin (Marshville, N.C.) averages 8.7 points and a team-best 3.1 assists per game. Lolar scores 7.7 points per contest, connecting on 35 threes while Dominguez shoots 53.5 percent from the field and 45.1 percent from three-point range, collecting 7.1 points per game. Junior center Keith Griffin (Concord, N.C.) is second in the SAC with 1.9 blocks per game, averaging 6.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest. He had five blocked shots in Wednesday's quarterfinal victory.

Queens enters the semifinals at 24-5 overall after going 17-5 in the SAC, finishing in second place one game ahead of the Bulldogs. The Royals are third in the most recent NCAA Southeast Region poll. Queens snapped a three-game losing streak with Wednesday's 96-86 victory over Catawba. Lewis and Morgan both earned first team All-SAC honors this season. Lewis is sixth in the league with 18.7 points per game, shooting 38 percent from three-point range. Morgan scores 17.8 points per game, leading the league and ranking second nationally in field goal percentage (68.4 percent). In addition to ranking fourth in the nation in field goal percentage, Queens ranks 15th in scoring offense at 88 points per contest.

The winner of the Wingate-Queens contest will advance to the SAC championship game Sunday at 4 p.m. in Timmons Arena, facing the winner of the LMU-Newberry contest. The last time the Bulldogs played in the SAC championship game was in 2013, when Wingate defeated LMU 69-53, out-scoring the Railsplitters 48-25 in the second half. The Bulldogs split the regular season series against Newberry, while Lincoln Memorial went 2-0 against Wingate en route to a 22-0 SAC season.