Hickory, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs outscored Lenoir-Rhyne University 45-31 in the second half en route to a 79-72 victory Wednesday night in South Atlantic Conference play. Wingate wins its ninth straight, improving to 12-7 overall and 9-4 in the SAC. The Bears fall to 9-9 overall and 8-5 in the SAC. The nine-game winning streak marks the longest since the 2007-2008 season.
"I thought it was a tale of two halves," Wingate head coach
Brian Good says. "In the first half, they did a great job of breaking us down off the dribble. We were forced into help situations and they just have too many shooters on the floor. In the second half we really dug in and limited their penetration."
Senior forward
Josh Dominguez (Matthews, N.C.) led five Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points, adding six rebounds. Sophomore guard
Mike Baez (Orlando, Fla.) had 13 points and 10 rebounds, while senior forward
Isiah Cureton (Waxhaw, N.C.) notched his fourth double-double in five games with 12 points and 11 boards. Junior guard
Zeriq Lolar (Orlando, Fla.) had 11 points, while junior forward
Lee McCall (Indian Land, S.C.) contributed 10 points and six rebounds. This marks the 12th time this season the Bulldogs have had at least four players in double figures and sixth time at least five players have scored 10 points or more.
Jalen Variste had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lenoir-Rhyne offense.
Reed Lucas added 16 points and six rebounds, while
Darrion Evans had 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.
An Evans three gave Lenoir-Rhyne an early 11-5 advantage, but a Dominguez triple got the 'Dogs within three. Reed buried a three at the 13:13 mark to make it 20-12, but a
Camari Wilkerson (Glen Burnie, Md.) bucket at the midway point got the 'Dogs back within four. A
Jacob Skidmore three-point play gave the Bears a 26-19 advantage with 8:14 left in the first half.
Two free throws and a bucket from Cureton got the Bulldogs within three, but threes from Lucas and Evans made it 34-25 with 4:33 to go. A pair of Cureton free throws got Wingate back within six, but a Variste layup in the final seconds gave the Bears a 41-34 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs opened the second half on a 17-7 run to take a 51-48 lead. Dominguez had six points in the spurt, while Lolar added a triple. Another Lolar three pushed the advantage to five, while a jumper from
Anthanee Doyle (Holly Springs, N.C.) made it 58-51 with 11:21 remaining in the second half. A McCall three-point play and Dominguez layup pushed the advantage to 10 at the 8:43 mark.
Variste got Lenoir-Rhyne within six with a bucket with seven minutes to go, but Dominguez answered with a layup and a triple to make it 68-59 with 4:51 to go. Buckets from Cureton and McCall put the Bulldogs on top 74-62 at the 1:55 mark. The Bears got no closer than seven the rest of the way.
Wingate shot 38.7 percent from the field, hitting six-of-26 shots from three-point range (23.1 percent). Lenoir-Rhyne shot 36.4 percent from the field, knocking down 10-of-30 shots from beyond the arc (33.3 percent). The Bulldogs held a 49-37 rebounding advantage, with a 28-20 edge in points in the paint and 14-11 advantage in second-chance points.
Wingate is at home for the next two games, starting Saturday, hosting Tusculum at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs host Newberry next Wednesday at 8 p.m.
