Ettrick, Va.----Wingate University senior guard Marco Haskins scored a career-high 28 points Wednesday night, but the Virginia State University Trojans held off a late Bulldog rally en route to a 77-70 victory in NCAA Division II men's basketball action. VSU improves to 1-2 on the year, while the 'Dogs fall to 1-2 overall.

KEY STATS

- WU shot 44.8 percent from the field; Virginia State shot 43.1 percent
- Wingate knocked down seven threes on 32 percent shooting; VSU hit just four triples (22 percent)
- The Trojans were 23-for-28 at the free throw line while the Bulldogs were 11-for-18
- VSU held a 37-36 rebounding advantage; each team had 16 turnovers

KEY BULDOGS

- Haskins was eight-for-15 from the field, three-for-six from three-point range and nine-for-11 at the free throw line
- Haskins added eight rebounds, two assists and a steal
- Jakob Dawkins also had his Wingate career high with 19 points on eight-of-12 shooting
- Francis Sio contributed nine points on four-of-seven shooting
- Frankie Johnson had four points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals

KEY TROJANS

- Jahmere Howze had 15 points and 11 rebounds
- Cyonte Melvin added 14 points and seven boards
- Jalen Jackson had 12 points; William Vedder contributed 10 points

NOTES

- Third straight 20-point game for Haskins to start the season
- Haskins has six career 20-point games in two years at Wingate
- He has scored in double figures in 27 of 32 games as a Bulldog
- Dawkins entered the contest with 12 points in his first two games at Wingate
- Johnson has had multiple steals in every game this season

FIRST HALF

- A Quantra Taylor layup gave Wingate a 8-5 lead five minutes in
- Vedder capped a 7-0 run to give VSU a 12-8 advantage
- A dunk from Dawkins tied it, but Jackson's three pushed the lead back to five at the midway point
- Howze pushed the lead to nine at the 6:56 mark; a Dawkins three made it 26-20
- Melvin's layup gave VSU a 32-20 lead with five minutes left in the half
- WU closed the half on a 13-2 run to get within one
- Dawkins had seven points in the spurt; Haskins had the other six points

SECOND HALF

- Howze's layup gave Virginia State a six-point lead five minutes into the second half
- A Haskins triple and Dawkins layup got the 'Dogs within three at the 12:22 mark
- Sio's layup and three got Wingate within two at 52-50; a Haskins layup and two free throws put WU on top
- A Wiggins layup at the 6:23 mark gave Virginia State a 59-55 lead
- Two Jackson free throws extended the lead to seven, but a Haskins three cut it back to three with 2:27 left
- A Howze layup and dunk gave the Trojans a 70-65 edge with 1:37 remaining
- Johnson's layup cut it to three while Taylor's dunk with seven second left made it 72-70
- VSU hit five free throws in the final seven seconds to make the final margin 77-70

UP NEXT

- Wingate returns to Cuddy Arena Saturday, hosting Fayetteville State at 2 p.m.