Wingate Knocks Out Armstrong Atlantic State In Men’s Basketball South Atlantic Region Tournament

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Wingate pulled off the lone upset of the day as the No. 5-seeded Bulldogs knocked off the No. 4-seeded Pirates of Armstrong Atlantic State, 72-68, in the first round of the 2007 NCAA DII South Atlantic Regional at the George A. Christenberry Fieldhouse on Saturday evening.

Wingate meets top seed and host Augusta State at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday evening in the second semifinal contest.

The Bulldogs (23-8) built upon a one-point halftime lead in the second half, stretching it out to seven on a transition layup by Shaun Kirkland with 16:25 remaining, 47-41. Armstrong Atlantic cut it to two, 61-59, on a Taylor basket with 5:15 left, but a free throw and a three-pointer by Justin Baker pushed the lead back to six, 65-59, with 4:15 remaining.

The Pirates would cut the lead to two, 70-68, on Bryan Taylor's layin with 49 seconds left, then Tory Harris drew a charge with 19.6 seconds left to give the Pirates the basketball. Harris then had the ball in his hands for the game-tying shot, but his layup was blocked by Bryan Grier with five seconds left. Bill Smith made two free throws with 1.5 seconds left to clinch the victory for Wingate.

Massamba notched a career-high for the Pirates (21-9) with 22 points on the night - his previous career high was just 15 points, set twice. Bryan Taylor added a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Wingate was led by Sean Barnette with 18 points and Bryan Grier's all-around outstanding game of 14 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots, including the game-preserving block.

The Bulldogs and the Pirates played a mostly-even first half as both teams shot right around 37 percent from the floor. Justin Baker hit two free throws with five seconds left in the first half to give the Bulldogs a 36-35 halftime lead. Darly Massamba provided most of the offense for the Pirates with 14 points, including three three-pointers, in the first half. Wingate was led by SAC Player of the Year Sean Barnette, who scored 10 points.

AASU making seventh regional appearance, has now lost six straight regional games dating back to 1995. Wingate, making its sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, improved and to 2-5 in regional games - with both wins coming over Armstrong Atlantic, in 2001 and this year.

Quotes:
Wingate Head Coach Parker Laketa:
"Proud of the way our guys defended. We held a very good Armstrong Atlantic State team to 42 percent shooting and Bryan Grier came up with the biggest block of his entire career to seal the game for us."

"Justin (Baker) was tremendous again by hitting some key three-pointers. He hit a key three-pointer to give us some breathing room. Just his threat on the perimeter for shooting the basketball opened up the interior for our other guys. They just did a tremendous job and I'm proud of them."

"I think all of our guys were a little bit excited in the first half. Its a big game...NCAA Tournament. We were forcing the issue a little bit, shooting some bad shots; and bad shots to me are just like turnovers, you're not going to get anything out of it. But in the second half it was nothing but good shots."

Wingate's Bryan Grier On the blocked shot at the end:
"It was there and I didn't go for his first pump. That's just what I do. I was hoping that they rotated down and got (Bryan) Taylor. I went up perfect and just grabbed it and got it out of there as quick as I could."

Wingate's Justin Baker:
"The coach has been getting on me about my shot selection, so I was just trying to wait and get some open looks. They came and I knocked the shot down."

Armstrong Atlantic State's Jeff Burkhamer:
"I thought our guys fought really hard. It just seemed like in the second half we could never get the play to get us over the hump to win the game. We had our best penetrator with the ball two feet from the basket with a chance to tie it. We hung in there through adversity."

"There's a lot of tears being shed. There's a special bond between this team, especially with our seniors."