Wednesday, February 28, 2007

NO. 3 WINGATE BEATS NO. 6 TUSCULUM 66-56 IN FOOD LION SAC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL

WINGATE, N.C. --- The third-seeded Wingate University men's basketball team held off No. 6 Tusculum College 66-56 Wednesday night in a quarterfinal game of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament at Cuddy Arena.

Wingate (20-8) advances to Saturday's tournament semifinal against No. 2 Presbyterian College in a rematch of last year's final. Tusculum ends its season at 13-15.

SAC Player of the Year Sean Barnette finished with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Bryan Grier accounted for a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds to go along with five blocked shots.

Tusculum senior Larry Minnefee led the Pioneers with 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting, while senior Chris Poore ended his collegiate career with 14 points and five rebounds. Junior Jordan Lear added 13 points, while junior Lavanti Jeter tallied four points and a season-best 12 rebounds.

Wingate led 28-23 at halftime and raced out to an 11-point advantage (40-29) with 13:57 remaining in the game. Tusculum answered with a 15-4 run and tied the game at 44-44 on a Corey Poindexter three-pointer with 8:40 left in the game.

The Bulldogs responded with nine unanswered points, including a dunk by Grier and a three-pointer by Justin Baker to take a 53-44 lead with 4:14 remaining.

Tusculum cut the deficit to 59-54 following a tip-in by Jeter at the 1:30 mark, but that was as close as the Pioneers would get.

Wingate shot 46 percent from the floor and 73.9 percent from the foul line (17-23). Tusculum shot 4-of-12 from the free throw line (33.3%).

- TC -