No. 3 Wingate Advances to SAC Men's Hoops Championship with 77-68 Win Over No. 2 Queens
March 5, 2016
Greenville, S.C.----The third-seeded Wingate University Bulldogs had six players score in double figures Saturday night, defeating second-seeded and 20th-ranked Queens University 77-68 in the SAC Tournament semifinals in Timmons Arena. Wingate picks up its fourth win over a ranked team this season, moving to 22-8 overall and advancing to Sunday's SAC championship game. The Royals fall to 24-6 on the season.
Freshman Mike Baez (Huntersville, N.C.) had 16 points to lead the Wingate attack, after scoring a career-high 25 in Wednesday's quarterfinals. Sophomore Kerigan Farley (Hickory, N.C.) tied a season high with 14 points, while All-SAC junior Isiah Cureton (Waxhaw, N.C.) contributed 13 points, six rebounds and four assists. Junior guardAnthanee Doyle (Holly Springs, N.C.) went four-for-five from three-point range, scoring 12 points while junior centerKeith Griffin (Concord, N.C.) had 10 points, five rebounds and five blocks, after blocking five shots Wednesday night. Senior guard Xavier Griffin (Marshville, N.C.) also had 10 points for the Bulldog, adding four rebounds.
Todd Withers had 22 points to lead the Royals, going six-for-13 from beyond the arc. Daniel Camps added 13 points. Sean Morgan and Rob Lewis, the two first team All-SAC players for Queens, were held to eight and four points, respectively.
Queens used an 11-0 run to take an early 11-2 lead on a Lewis layup at the 17:15 mark. Wingate scored 23 of the next 30 points to take a seven-point advantage. Doyle had six points in the spurt, while Baez added five points. A Withers dunk got the Royals within one at the 4:46 mark, but Farley countered with a three for the Bulldogs. A Withers three and Marquis Rankin layup helped the Royals take a 33-32 lead with 2:27 to go in the half. The Bulldogs took a 34-33 lead into halftime thanks to a pair of Cureton free throws in the final minute.
A Doyle three gave the 'Dogs a six-point lead in the first minute of the second half. A pair of Kendall Jones triples tied it at 43 with 14 minutes remaining. Three Farley free throws pushed the lead back to three, but another Withers tripled made it 46-46 with 11 minutes left.
Wingate used an emphatic 17-2 run to take a 15-point lead, knocking down five threes in the flurry. Xavier Griffin's triple at the 10:46 mark gave the Bulldogs the lead, while triples from Cureton and Baez made it 55-46. After a Keith Griffin bucket, Xavier Griffin buried another three, while Doyle's three with 6:14 to go made it 63-48.
Jones connected on a three to get Queens within nine at the 3:48 mark, but Farley's layup put the Wingate lead back in double figures on the ensuing possession. Jacoby Davis got the Royals within seven with a bucket, but Farley again had the answer, knocking down a three to make it 68-58 with 2:41 to go. Baez drained a triple on the next trip to push the lead to 13, while two Xavier Griffin free throws made it 73-58 with 1:13 to go.
Wingate shot 49.1 percent from the field, hitting 12-of-21 shots from three-point range (57.1 percent). It was the second-best three-point percentage of the season for the 'Dogs. Queens, who entered the game ranked fourth nationally in field goal percentage, shot 38.6 percent from the field, its third-lowest percentage of the season. The Bulldogs faced the national leader in field goal percentage Wednesday, holding Carson-Newman to 44 percent shooting. The 'Dogs will face the number three field goal percentage team in the nation Sunday when they meet second-ranked Lincoln Memorial. Queens hit nine-of-26 shots from beyond the arc (34.6 percent). Wingate held a 39-29 rebounding edge and a 14-7 advantage in second-chance points. The Bulldogs won despite committing a season-high 21 turnovers.
Wingate advances to the SAC title game for the third time in five seasons. The Bulldogs will face second-ranked Lincoln Memorial at 4 p.m. on ESPN3. LMU won both regular season meetings against Wingate en route to a history 22-0 SAC season. It will be Wingate's eighth contest against a ranked team this season. The Bulldogs defeated LMU 69-53 in the 2013 SAC title game.