Salisbury, N.C.----The Catawba College Indians shot 51 percent from the field Wednesday morning, prevailing 88-79 over the visiting Wingate University Bulldogs in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action. The Indians move to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in the SAC, while the Bulldogs fall to 4-5 overall and 0-4 in league play.

KEY STATS

- The Indians shot 51 percent from the field and hit 10-of-24 threes (42 percent)
- Wingate shot 47 percent from the field, connecting on five-of-21 triples (24 percent)
- Catawba held a 42-27 rebounding advantage, with each team scoring nine second-chance points
- The Bulldogs held a 54-32 edge in points in the paint
- WU turned 22 Catawba turnovers into 25 points
- Catawba was 22-for-27 at the free throw line; Wingate went eight-for-11

KEY BULLDOGS

- Jarren Cottingham had 20 points and three assists, going nine-for-14 from the field
- Jakob Dawkins added 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals
- Quantra Taylor contributed nine points and a block, going three-for-three from the field
- Donell Nixon had eight points and two assists
- Vontrez Roberts collected seven points and a game-high eight boards

FIRST HALF

- Cottingham's fastbreak layup gave the 'Dogs an early 3-0 lead
- Catawba scored nine of the next 11 points, taking a 9-5 lead on Devin Cooper's bucket
- Francis Sio and Kendrick Tucker knocked down triples to get WU within two at the 14:29 mark
- A dunk and jumper from Larry McLeod gave the Indians a 24-17 lead at the midway point
- Back-to-back threes from Zaqwuan Matthews made it 32-19 with 7:51 left in the half
- The Bulldogs used an 11-0 run to tie it late in the half
- Cottingham scored 10 straight points in the flurry, with a Roberts free throw tying the game
- A McLeod dunk in the final minute gave Catawba a 38-34 halftime lead

SECOND HALF

- Taylor's layup in the opening minute of the second half got WU back within two
- The Indians scored the next eight, taking a 46-36 lead on a pair of Marcell Haskett free throws
- Buckets from Dawkins, Cottingham and Roberts got Wingate back within four at the 15:13 mark
- Haskett buried a three with 12:43 to go to push the Catawba advantage back to 10
- Haskett's three-point play extended the lead to 14 at the midway point of the half
- Ben Zemonek's bucket at the 8:50 mark put the Indians on top 70-52
- Catawba took a 20-point lead with 5:55 to go on a Cooper triple
- A Nixon three and Shaman Alston layup got Wingate back within 11 with 1:32 to go
- Triples from Dawkins and Nixon pulled the 'Dogs within eight with 29 seconds left

UP NEXT

- Wingate is back in action Saturday, traveling to Mount Olive for a 2 p.m. start
- The 'Dogs are at Lenoir-Rhyne Jan. 1 before returning home Jan. 4 to host Mars Hill