WINGATE, N.C. – Wingate made a late surge, then held off a determined Trojan squad, as the Bulldogs defeated Anderson, 76-70, in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action, Saturday afternoon at Cuddy Arena.
Anderson slipped to 7-9 overall and 5-5 in league action with its third consecutive setback, while Wingate (9-7, 6-4 SAC) won its sixth straight decision and claimed its fourth straight win over the Trojans.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Sophomore guard Randall Shaw led the Trojan attack with 18 points, while freshman center Carlos Dotson posted his sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. Dotson also swiped a pair of steals. Graduate student Lex Davis came off the bench to score a season-high 13 points, with sophomore guard Andrew Boynton chipping in 10 points and four rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Shaw and Dotson combined to score 10 of the Trojans first 13 points, with Dotson's third straight basket giving Anderson a 13-9 advantage at the 13:07 mark of the opening frame.
Wingate countered with consecutive jumpers to knot the score for the first time of the afternoon, but Shaw quieted the 'Dogs with back-to-back 3-pointers and Davis capped an 8-0 run with a dunk following a drive through the lane, as AU claimed a 21-13 lead – its largest of the contest – midway through the half.
But Wingate answered with seven straight points to pull within just one, at 21-20, before Vinson snapped the Bulldog run with the first of his two treys on the afternoon to boost AU's advantage to 24-20 with 8:37 left in the first half.
Davis then took over the Trojan offensive attack by scoring seven consecutive points in less than two minutes to push AU's lead to 29-22 at the 6:56 mark. But with the Black and Gold holding a 33-28 edge two minutes later, Wingate notched a 7-1 run to claim its first lead of the contest before junior forward Luke Musselwhite connected on 1-of-2 from the line to set the halftime score at 35 apiece.
Second Half
The final 20 minutes featured five ties and six lead changes, with the Bulldogs coming out of the intermission by posting a 10-2 run to take its largest lead of the game, 45-37, less than three minutes into the second half.
Boynton dropped in a pair of free throws to spark a 13-2 outburst by the Trojans over the next three minutes, with the sophomore from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., capping the run with a 3-pointer. Neither team was able to build more than a two-possession over the final 14 minutes of the contest with the Bulldogs snapping a 59-59 deadlock with a 7-3 surge to claim a lead they would not surrender.
With Wingate holding a 72-67 lead following a pair of free throws from sophomore Mike Baez, guard Shaw Benard found Vinson deep in the left corner and he nailed a trey to trim the deficit to just two with 17 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs were forced to call a 30-second timeout when they were unable to inbound the ball, but following the break AU was forced to foul and Wingate was a perfect 4-of-4 from the line inside the final 15 seconds to seal the win.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE GAME
The Trojans equaled their season high with nine steals on the afternoon.
NOTABLES
• The Trojans have drained at least 10 treys in six of their last eight games, including a season-high 14 treys in the win over Newberry.
• The Trojans pulled down double-digit offensive rebounds for the second time in three games.
• The Trojans were 8-of-15 from the charity stripe, marking their third-lowest accuracy of the season.
UP NEXT
The Trojans wrap up the first half of the league's double round robin slate by visiting Carson-Newman, Wednesday night. Tip-off versus the Eagles is set for 8 p.m. in Jefferson City, Tenn.
