Turner was nearly perfect on the afternoon, hitting 11-of-12 shots from the field to go along with eight-of-11 shooting from the free throw line. The 2009-10 SAC Freshman of the Year added nine rebounds, two blocks, two steals and two assists. Junior guard Jaime Vaughn (Tallahassee, Fla.) had 16 points, knocking down four-of-six shots from three-point range. Sophomore forward Quan Alexander (Charlotte, N.C.) had 16 points, while sophomore forward Paidrick Matilus (Boynton Beach, Fla.) scored all 13 of his points in the first half. Sophomore guard Ethan Kincaid (Morganton, N.C.) had five points and nine assists for the Bulldogs.
Freshman guard Evrik Gary (Camden, S.C.) had 26 points to lead the Francis Marion attack, knocking down eight-of-nine free throws and adding a game-high four steals. Junior forward Liki Turner (Richmond, Va.) added 24 points and eight rebounds for the Patriots, hitting all three of his shots from three-point range.
Turner was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2010 OrthoCarolina Classic. Alexander joined his teammate on the All-Classic team. Gary and Turner also earned all-classic honors, along with Shaw’s Raheem Smith and Coker’s Tom Wright.
The ‘Dogs scored the first seven points of the game, highlighted by a three from Matilus right off the opening tip. The Patriots tied the game at nine on a jumper from senior guard Simel Boyd (Ridgeville, S.C.). That would be the only tie of the game. A three-point play from Turner, along with another jumper from Turner put Wingate on top by seven with 7:28 remaining in the first half. Gary knocked down a pair of free throws to trim the lead to six with five minutes to go in the half.
A pair of Matilus free throws, followed by a three from Vaughn pushed the Bulldog lead to 12 at 39-27. Turner converted a layup, while Vaughn followed with a triple and two free throws to give the ‘Dogs their largest lead of the half at 46-30 with 1:40 remaining. The Patriots trimmed the lead to 10 on a three from Turner with 29 seconds to go. The Bulldogs went back to their Turner, who capped the first half with a layup.
Alexander knocked down a jumper to put Wingate on top by 15 two minutes into the second half. The Patriots used a 12-2 run to cut the lead to five at 59-54 at the 13:33 mark. Gary drained a pair of threes to cap the flurry. Wingate redshirt freshman Mike Tankersley (Hampton, Ga.) ended the spurt by converting a three-point play to push Wingate’s lead back to eight.
The Bulldogs got back-to-back threes from Vaughn in a 20-second span to take a 70-56 lead with 11 minutes remaining. A triple from Kincaid got Wingate’s lead back to 16 points with 8:44 to go. Francis Marion responded by scoring the next nine points, capped by a jumper from senior guard Dominique Coleman (Snellville, Ga.) to trim the lead to seven with 5:38 to go. A Turner jumper, followed by Alexander layup got Wingate’s lead back to double figures at 80-69 with 4:20 to go. The lead would not go below nine the rest of the way. Junior guard Chase Smith (Upper Marlboro, Md.) buried a three from the corner with 21 seconds left to push the lead to 12.
Wingate shot 54.7 percent from the field on the day, while knocking down eight-of-18 shots from beyond the arc (44.4 percent). The ‘Dogs also hit 30-of-38 free throws on the day (78.9 percent). FMU shot 44.8 percent for the game, hitting eight-of-25 shots from three-point range (32 percent). The Bulldogs outrebounded Francis Marion 37-29, while the Wingate bench outscored the FMU bench 23-11.
The ‘Dogs return to action Tuesday, hosting UNC Pembroke at 7 p.m. The Patriots travel to USC Aiken Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
No comments:
Post a Comment