Wingate Tops Catawba To Advance To Food Lion SAC Men’s Basketball Championship Game
HICKORY, N.C. -- Wingate University sophomore forward Quan Alexander (Charlotte, N.C.) hit a career-high 23 points and his team shot 64 percent in the second half as the second-seeded Bulldogs defeated seventh-seeded Catawba College 65-60 in the semifinals of the 2011 Food Lion SAC tournament Saturday night in the Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Complex.
Alexander hit 11-of-15 shots as Wingate (19-9 overall) hit 16-of-25 attempts in the pivotal second stanza. The Bulldogs will advance to play top-seed and national number 12 Lincoln Memorial University in the championship game Sunday (4 p.m. tip-off). Catawba finishes its season 13-15 overall.
Three Bulldogs contributed 12 points each Saturday: sophomore forward Odell Turner (Charlotte, N.C.), junior guard Jaime Vaughn (Tallahassee, Fla.) and sophomore guard Paidrick Matilus (Boynton Beach, Fla.). Turner had a team-high nine rebounds as he converted six-of-eight shots from the floor. Matilus was perfect off the Bulldog bench, nailing five-of-five field goal attempts.
Catawba senior guard Dominick Reid (Concord, N.C.) led the Indians with his 19 points. In the process, Reid set the Food Lion SAC tournament men's scoring record. He concludes his illustrious career with 176 points in 11 tourney appearances. Sophomore center Lee Martin (Mt. Airy, N.C.) added 11 points in a reserve role. Martin hit three-of-four from downtown Saturday night.
Matilus hit a lay-up to put Wingate up 60-55 with 2:07 to play. Martin answered eight seconds later with his third and final triple of the night, thanks to an assist by Reid. Alexander hit a jumper with 1:26 left to push the advantage to 62-58. Reid was fouled on the other end and converted both free throws to cut the deficit to 62-60 with 1:15 to go.
The teams traded turnovers before Catawba fouled Wingate sophomore point guard Ethan Kincaid (Morganton, N.C.) with 23 ticks on the clock. The Bulldog floor general made one of two charity tosses. Indian freshman guard Keon Moore (Colerain, N.C.) missed a potential game-tying three-pointer on the other end. Vaughn made two free throws with nine seconds remaining for the final margin.
A floater by Reid with 9:06 to play gave Catawba its first lead at 47-46. Alexander answered on the next possession to allow Wingate to regain the lead. Catawba sophomore forward Kelvin Drakeford (Charlotte, N.C.) hit two free throws to give the Indians a 49-48 edge at the 8:12 mark. Alexander hit a hoop to give Wingate a 50-49 advantage with 7:23 to go. The Bulldogs would not trail again.
In the first half, Alexander scored 11 points as Wingate built a 29-21 lead at intermission. The half was tied three times. The Bulldogs led 17-8 on a fast-break bucket by Matilus at the 10:45 mark. The nine-point lead was Wingate's largest of the night. A three-point field goal by Martin tied the first stanza for the final time at 19-19 with 5:50 remaining, completing an 11-2 run for the Indians.
Wingate answered the Martin triple with a 10-2 run to finish the frame. Alexander had four points during the flurry as four Bulldogs contributed points to the run. Wingate shot 46.4 percent from the field in the first half (13-of-28), compared to 29.2 percent for Catawba (seven-of-24). Turner and Vaughn supported Alexander with six first-half points each. Junior guard Justin Huntley (Mooresville, N.C.) led Catawba with seven points.
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Catawba College's Kelvin Drakeford soars for a dunk against Wingate in the semifinals of the 2011 Food Lion SAC Tournament on Saturday (Photo by Chuck Williams) |
The Bulldogs shot 54.7 percent for the game (29-of-53). The Indians managed only 38.8 percent (19-of-49). Wingate outrebounded Catawba 34-28. Kincaid and Matilus added seven boards each to Turner's game-high total. Drakeford and Huntley had seven rebounds each for the Indians. Kincaid filled out his worksheet with five assists. Reid had seven helpers for Catawba.
What they are saying:
Wingate coach Brian Good:
They gave us everything I thought they would give us. We didn't
play particularly well, but we did get some stops, and we scored in
the paint like we like to. We just kind of found a way. It wasn't a
pretty game, but I didn't think it was going to be a pretty
game.
We weren't making shot, even though they were open ones, so we did a nice job of finding the next best option, and that was Quan, either slashing to the basket or short corners. Tonight, Quan was the guy who was open, and luckily he made them.
(on playing Lincoln Memorial for the championship) If we're going to win a championship, we're going to need this guy (Quan Alexander) to get a defensive rebound. We will have to rebound the basketball well, we'll have to protect the paint well, and try to limit them and try to keep the basketball out of the paint as many times as we can. I'm hoping we have the same kind of fire we've had for the last nine or ten games, and if we do, I feel good about our chances.
Wingate forward Quan Alexander:
I knew it was going to be a tough game and they were going to play
hard. I just like to give all the effort I could.
I'm not really an individual guy. I just try to play hard and they fell for me.
Going into the game, we knew anybody could be anybody on any given night, especially in a tournament like this.
Catawba Coach Jim Baker:
I thought we were right there. We had a chance. Wingate had beaten
us twice, once without Dominick in a two-point game, and then we
kicked it around pretty good at their place. We had a couple of
turnovers in the first half and they got run outs and some easy
layups, but after that we settled down and really started playing.
We were right there. One play, one bounce. That's the neat thing
about this time of year. The game slows down, everything tightens
up and you've got to make one play along the way. I really thought
we had a chance to get it done.
Our post defense was a little bit better. They drilled us pretty
good down at their place. We're so young. Keon Moore, the freshman
of the year, he played a little more like a freshman tonight. And
Kejuan Mayo, he's a freshman and playing against one of the best
post players in the league. The bright lights syndrome, the lights
are a little brighter up here, the ball's a little slicker,
everything's a little magnified. Neither one played particularly
well, but they've both got a good future. Keon, I think, is going
to be the next star we have.
Dominick Reid, what can I say about him. He's something special. He
in this tournament is 9-2. That's an unbelievable run. He has the
biggest heart. We changed our offense a little bit in the second
half and he just took over. I wish I'd have gotten the ball a
couple more times in his hands going down the stretch.
Post-game interviews on YouTube
WINGATE MEN 65, CATAWBA 60
CATAWBA (13-15 overall)
Reid, Dominick 6-16 6-7 19; Martin, Lee 3-4 2-2 11; Moore, Keon
2-10 4-5 9; Drakeford, Kelvin 3-4 2-4 8; Huntley, Justin 3-9 1-2 8;
Shoemaker, Trey 1-1 0-0 3; Mayo, Kejuan 1-5 0-2 2; Lovelace,
Cameron 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 15-22 60.
WINGATE (19-9 overall)
Alexander, Quan 11-15 1-1 23; Vaughn, Jaime 5-11 2-2 12; Turner,
Odell 6-8 0-3 12; Matilus, Paidrick 5-5 2-2 12; Kincaid, Ethan 1-6
1-2 4; Smith, Chase 1-5 0-0 2; Lewis, Eddie 0-1 0-0 0; Carpenter,
Robert 0-2 0-0 0; Parker, Jeffrey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-53 6-10
65.
Catawba........................ 21 39 - 60
Wingate........................ 29 36 - 65
3-point goals--Catawba 7-18 (Martin, Lee 3-4; Shoemaker, Trey 1-1;
Huntley, Justin 1-1; Reid, Dominick 1-7; Moore, Keon 1-5), Wingate
1-11 (Kincaid, Ethan 1-3; Vaughn, Jaime 0-3; Turner, Odell 0-1;
Smith, Chase 0-1; Lewis, Eddie 0-1; Carpenter, Robert 0-2). Fouled
out--Catawba-None, Wingate-None. Rebounds--Catawba 28 (Drakeford,
Kelvin 7; Huntley, Justin 7), Wingate 34 (Turner, Odell 9).
Assists--Catawba 9 (Reid, Dominick 7), Wingate 11 (Kincaid, Ethan
5). Total fouls--Catawba 13, Wingate 18. Technical
fouls--Catawba-None, Wingate-None. A-601
2011 Food Lion SAC tournament semifinal in CVCC Multipurpose
Complex