Sophomore guard Paidrick Matilus (Boynton Beach, Fla.) had 16 points on seven-of-11 shooting to spark the Wingate offense. Sophomore forward Odell Turner (Charlotte, N.C.) added 11 points in only 16 minutes of action. Junior guard Jaime Vaughn (Tallahassee, Fla.) and freshman guard Nick Ross (Carrollton, Texas) contributed 10 points each for the Bulldogs.
Senior guard Tom Wright (Sydney, Australia) had 16 points to lead the Coker attack. Wright knocked down four-of-eight shots from three-point range. Sophomore forward Jonathon Gardner (Florence, S.C.) added nine points for the Cobras.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 11-3 lead, capped by a dunk from redshirt freshman forward Mike Tankersley (Hampton, Ga.). Back-to-back threes from Wright cut the lead to two at the 12:44 mark. The Bulldogs scored the next 10 points to take a 21-9 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the half. Freshman forward Jeffrey Parker (Madison, N.C.) started the spurt with four free throws, while Vaughn scored the final six points, knocking down a three and adding a three-point play to push the lead to 12.
A jumper from Gardner, along with a free throw from freshman forward Eren Moses (New York, N.Y.), trimmed the Wingate lead to nine with 6:17 to go in the half. The ‘Dogs answered with nine straight points, with Ross knocking down a pair of deep threes to go along with a trifecta from Matilus to give Wingate its largest lead of the first half at 38-20. Coker closed the half on an 11-4 run to trim the lead to 11. Gardner drained a three with 37 seconds left to cut it to nine. Vaughn knocked down a jumper with 15 seconds to go to push the lead back to 11 heading to intermission.
A pair of free throws from senior forward Liam Kyle (Cleveland, Ohio) got the Cobras within eight 1:06 into the second half. The Bulldogs answered with a 17-5 run to push the lead to 20. Turner and Matilus started the flurry with jumpers, while Turner added a three and another jumper to push the lead to 15. Two more jumpers from Matilus made it 60-40 at the 13:22 mark.
The lead would remain above 12 the rest of the way for the Bulldogs. A dunk and a lay-up from Tankersley gave Wingate its largest lead of the game at 67-44. The Bulldogs led by 19 with 2:50 remaining in the contest. The Cobras scored the final six points of the game to make the final deficit 13.
The Bulldogs shot 54.8 percent from the field on the afternoon, while knocking down five-of-11 shots from three-point range. The Bulldogs added 20 free throws in 29 attempts, while Coker hit 19-of-30 free throws on the afternoon. Wingate outscored the Cobras 32-14 in the paint, while converting Coker’s 24 turnovers into 31 points. The Cobras held a slim 31-30 advantage in rebounding.
The Bulldogs return to action Saturday, taking on Francis Marion University at 4 p.m. in the championship match-up of the 2010 OrthoCarolina Classic. Coker will take on Shaw University at 2 p.m. in the consolation game. Francis Marion outlasted Shaw 87-78 in Saturday’s early game.
(Wingate University assistant sports information director Hugh Patton wrote this article. Patton is a 2006 Wingate graduate with a B.A. degree in Communication Studies.)
No comments:
Post a Comment