Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs raced out to a 20-4 lead Wednesday night over Coker College, then withstood a Coker rally en route to a 69-63 victory over the Cobras in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action in Cuddy Arena. Wingate improves to 12-8 overall and 8-4 in the SAC, while the Cobras fall to 3-16 overall and 1-11 in league play.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH GOOD

"Our defense was very solid tonight. Quantra was phenomenal on the boards. We obviously weren't very good offensively tonight, credit to Coker. But we defended and we rebounded and found a way to get a win."

KEY STATS

- Wingate shot 39 percent from the field, hitting seven-of-26 shots from three-point range (27 percent)
- Coker shot 34 percent from the field, connecting on eight-of-23 shots from beyond the arc (34 percent)
- The Bulldogs held a 48-45 rebounding advantage; Coker held an 11-8 edge in second-chance points
- WU outscored Coker 26-16 in the paint
- The Coker bench outscored Wingate's bench 46-10
- The contest featured four ties and 12 lead changes
- Wingate converted 17 Coker turnovers into 18 points

KEY BULLDOGS

- Marco Haskins had 17 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block
- Frankie Johnson added 16 points, five rebounds and two assists
- Jakob Dawkins contributed 12 points, nine rebounds and two steals
- Quantra Taylor piled up eight points and a career-high 17 rebounds, adding two blocks and two assists

NOTES

- WU improves to 14-4 against Coker, with 10 straight wins over the Cobras
- Haskins has scored in double figures in 19 of 20 games this season
- Johnson scored over 15 points for the sixth straight game
- Taylor had the most rebounds by a Bulldog since Haskins had 17 last season
- Seventh double-figure rebounding effort for Taylor
- 10th double-figure scoring performance for Dawkins
- Coker shot the third-lowest field goal percentage anyone has shot against Wingate this season
- Wingate committed a season-high 18 turnovers

FIRST HALF

- The 'Dogs jumped out to a 16-point lead eight minutes in
- Hovasse knocked down two threes in the spurt, with Haskins adding five points
- A Jaylan Robertson three got Coker back within 11 at the midway point
- A Dawkins three-point play and Emarius Logan layup put the 'Dogs back on top by 16 with 8:56 to go
- A Marquis Green bucket trimmed the lead to 10 with 5:21 remaining
- Coker closed the half on a 7-0 run, with a Khalil Halls triple at the buzzer tying it at 31

SECOND HALF

- The Cobras opened the half on a 9-2 run, taking a 40-33 lead on a Halls triple 90 seconds in
- Wingate scored the next 10 points, getting four points from Haskins while a Jarren Cottingham layup capped it
- Green's layup put Coker on top 48-43 at the midway point of the half
- A Johnson jumper and triple got Wingate within one with nine minutes to go
- A Halls three pushed the advantage back to four, but back-to-back Haskins threes gave WU a 58-56 lead
- Robertson's triple put the Cobras back on top at the 7:54 mark
- Taylor's dunk gave Wingate a 65-63 lead with 3:48 remaining
- The Bulldogs held Coker scoreless over the last four minutes
- Johnson and Haskins knocked down four free throws in the final 16 seconds to seal the win

UP NEXT

- Wingate travels to Anderson Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip
- The Bulldogs are at Catawba next Wednesday at 8 p.m.
- The 'Dogs return home to host Lincoln Memorial Saturday, Feb. 9 at 4 p.m.