Weekly Men’s Basketball Notes, February 23, 2009

Men's basketball notes and game recaps for week ending February 22, 2009.

BREVARD - Brevard College won one out of two games on the week to move to 12-13, 3-11 SAC... Wednesday the Tornados hosted Carson-Newman and won in overtime, 101-97... it was Brevard's first conference win in seven tries... The Tornados led for all but 28 seconds in the opening frame... A lay-up from Andrew Freeman pushed the lead to 22-12 with 13:30 left in the period, and a Cody Siniard three-pointer at the 8:22 mark capped a 9-0 run and put Brevard up, 37-17... The Tornados led at the halftime break, 46-31... The Eagles came out of the halftime locker room gunning and turned what looked like a laugher into an epic prizefight... The Eagles started the half on a 24-7 run to storm in front... A Carson-Newman three-pointer gave the visitors a 57-55 lead with 11:26 left in the game... After Brevard regained the lead, Carson-Newman came back with a 7-0 spurt to lead 70-64 with 7:01 to play... The home side came back to tie the game with 4:44 left on a Jonathan Whitson lay-up, and another basket from Brevard's all-time leading scorer put the Tornados on top, 83-81, with 1:06 left.... But Carson-Newman scored the next five points of the game and led 86-83 with 22 seconds on the clock.... Brevard called timeout and ran a set to get Joseph Chilton the ball at the top of the key... The senior canned the three-pointer to tie the game in the final ten seconds, and the Eagles missed a jumper in the waning seconds that would have won the game...Brevard scored ten of the first 11 points in the extra period to ease to victory. Chilton knocked down two more trifectas and iced the game with a pair of free throws with 22 seconds left in the extra frame, and Brevard escaped with the victory.... Whitson led all scorers with 30 point, while Cody Siniard scored a career-high 16... Saturday Brevard was beaten by Tusculum, 72-55... Tusculum led for all but 3:20 of the game...Tusculum's first double-digit lead was 26-16 with 7:27 left in the first half. The lead was 39-28 at the half in favor of the Pioneers... Tusculum's largest lead came with 6:04 to play, when a three-pointer put the Pioneers up, 61-39.... Whitson led Brevard with 21 points... The Tornados finish the regular season with a pair of road games, Wednesday at Newberry and Saturday at Catawba.

CARSON-NEWMAN - The Carson-Newman Eagles went 0-2 on the week, falling at Brevard and Lincoln Memorial University ... Carson-Newman falls to 6-19 overall and 3-11 in conference play ... The Carson-Newman men's basketball team rallied from 20 points down at Brevard on Wednesday night to take a lead late in the second half, but came up short in overtime as the Eagles fell 101-97 ... Jordan Dixon (Clinton, Tenn.) and Bobby Guyton (Jesup, Ga.) each scored 15 points to lead the Eagles … C-N was outrebounded, 44-28 and hit just 13 of 25 free throws (52.0 percent) ... The Eagles started the half on a 24-7 run to storm in front … A three-pointer by Guyton gave the visitors a 57-55 lead with 11:26 left in the game ... C-N took its largest lead in the game with a 7-0 spurt, capped by a Tray Okoth (Richmond, Va.) basket, to lead 70-64 with 7:01 to play ... Carson-Newman would fall behind by two late, only to score the next five points of the game and lead 86-83 with 22 seconds on the clock … Brevard would tie with 10 seconds remaining on a three-pointer by Joseph Chilton ... Dixon missed a jumper in the waning seconds that would have won the game for the Eagles ... C-N struggled in OT as BC led by as many as nine points …The Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team knocked off the Eagles 73-70 on Saturday night ... The Eagles started slowly for the second-straight game, trailing by as many as 20 in the first half and by 14 at the break …The Railsplitters led 41-27 at the break ... Carson-Newman shifted momentum and chipped away at the Railsplitter lead ... C-N cut the Railsplitter lead in half and trailed by only nine 57-48 ... The Eagles kept up their relentless pressure and continued to force the Railsplitters into turnover after turnover ... C-N pushed back to tie the game at the 4:32 mark, but could not get over the hump … Carson-Newman put four players in double figures and was led in scoring by Darron Maxtion who scored 14 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds ... Teammates Jesse McMurry and Jordan Dixon each finished with 11, while Adam Plavich came off the bench to score 10 in the loss ... The Eagles will be back in action Wednesday, February 25 in Holt Fieldhouse as they face Catawba College … Tipoff is at 8 p.m … C-N wraps up the regular season with Wingate on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.

CATAWBA - The Catawba men split a pair of league matches last week ... The Indians defeated Lincoln Memorial 74-71 then fell 83-73 at Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday ... A three-point play by Antonio Houston with 44 seconds remaining gave Catawba a 72-71 lead and the Indians held on ... Catawba rallied from an eight-point deficit with just over six minutes left, using a 10-2 run to tied the game on a three-pointer by Dominick Reid with 3:12 remaining ... Catawba shot just 33 percent in the second half and were out-rebounded 45-33, but were a +8 in turnover margin ... Rob Fields led Catawba with 18 points, while Houston followed with 17 ... Cliff Burns had 11 points and eight rebounds ... On Saturday at L-R, Catawba fell behind 39-29 at the break and could only get as close as six in the second half ... L-R led by 17 early in the second half and by 14 with 3:26 to go before a late rally by the Catawba Indians pulled Catawba within 74-68 with 1:42 remaining ... The Indians did not score again until a Houston three-pointer with 37 seconds left ... Catawba shot 52 percent in the loss, marking the first time this season the Indians have lost a league game when shooting over 40 percent ... Houston and Fields were the only two players to reach double digits for Catawba, scoring 20 and 17, respectively ... Houston has moved past 1,500 points in his career and now stands 12th all-time with 1,524 points ... Fields is moving closer to the 1,000-point plateau as he has 939 points and is averaging 16.1 a contest this season ... Catawba will travel to Carson-Newman on Wednesday and host Brevard on Saturday to close out the regular season.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University Men's Basketball Team (15-9, 10-4) pushed its winning streak to five games and remained a half-game on top of the South Atlantic Conference standings after defeating Catawba College by an 83-73 score Saturday at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium … Sophomore forward D.J. Blackmon (Albemarle, N.C.) led the Bears with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists while senior guard Elliott McDowell (Canton, N.C.) and junior guard Marcus Hodges added 18 points each for Lenoir-Rhyne … The Bears raced to a 39-29 lead at halftime and pushed its advantage to as many as 17 points (49-32) early in the second half … Catawba closed the margin to six points late in the game but Lenoir-Rhyne was able to hold on thanks to a 26-of-33 shooting performance from the charity stripe … Lenoir-Rhyne also won its 102nd game over Catawba and improved to 34-3 in its last 37 league regular season home games … On Lenoir-Rhyne's all-time lists, senior guard Josh Rudder is 18th in points (1,366), fourth in assists (440) and second in steals (198) … Blackmon has scored in double figures in nine consecutive games … Lenoir-Rhyne is ranked in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Poll last week for the first time this year (the Bears are ranked 10th) … Lenoir-Rhyne closes out the regular season this week when in travels to Wingate (Wednesday at 8 p.m.) before returning home to face Mars Hill (Saturday at 8 p.m.) … Earlier this year, L-R defeated Wingate by a 70-61 score on January 28, in Hickory, N.C., but fell to Mars Hill in Mars Hill, N.C., 70-61, as well on January 14 … Lenoir-Rhyne leads the all-time series with both Wingate (42-25) and Mars Hill (54-25) … The Bears will be honoring their four seniors prior to the Lions game: A.J. Brown, Elliott McDowell, Josh Rudder and Donte Watson.

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - It looked like the Railsplitters were going to come away with a regular season sweep of Catawba College on Wednesday evening, but the Indians came back from eight points down at the 9:44 mark and took the lead for good with only 44 seconds remaing to escape their second loss of the year to LMU with a 74-71 win … The Railsplitters and Indians went toe-to-toe for the majority of the game, with the game tied 10 times and the lead trading hands on 12 occasions … As the end of the first half came to a close, Catawba's Antonio Houston hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Indians a 1-point 42-41 lift going into the intermission … When the second half got underway, the Railsplitters quickly took the momentum of the game and captured the lead with 18:56 to play … That lead stood until Catawba made the late charge and moved ahead with only 44 second remaining in regulation … Despite the loss, LMU's D'Mario Curry led all players in scoring and rebounding with 21 points and 13 boards … Railsplitter senior Wadner Joseph also finished with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Desmond Johnson and Stuart Miller each added 10. Catawba was led by Rob Fields who came off the bench to score 18 points … On Saturday night, in front of the second largest crowd to ever watch an LMU men's basketball game in the Tex Turner Arena, the Railsplitter men's basketball team knocked off the Eagles of Carson-Newman College 73-70 to assure themselves of their first winning season in conference play since the 2002-03 campaign … Saturday's win was almost the one that got away from the Railsplitters. After a slow start in the first half, the Railsplitters managed to hold a small lead and really got things rolling around the midway point of the first stanza … Once LMU got on a roll, it seemed like nothing could stop them. By the 3:11 mark, to fans it must have looked like the Railsplitters were ready to blow-out the Eagles as LMU took a 20-point advantage … By the end of the half, the Railsplitters were on top 41-27 when they went into the locker room and the 2,700-plus fans were left in a festive frenzy … Following the intermission, the teams took the floor in the second half ready for battle. LMU managed to push the lead back out to 20 on a basket by freshman Desmond Johnson with 14:22 left to play, but that was when survival mode kicked in for the Eagles … Carson-Newman somehow managed to shift the momentum and began slowly chipping away at the Railsplitter lead. In less than five minutes at 10:08, CN had cut the Railsplitter lead in half and trailed by only nine 57-48 … The Eagles kept up their relentless pressure and continued to force the Railsplitters into turnover after turnover. By the 4:32 mark, Carson-Newman bent LMU as much as they could without breaking them when they tied the game at 62 all … It was the closest Carson-Newman had been since the opening tip and both teams realized it was going to be a fight down the stretch to see who would win … Freshman Brandon Armstrong hit a jumper with 3:55 to play that gave LMU a 64-62 lead. That basket provided the Railsplitters with a 2-point cushion that helped them stay just out of the Eagle's reach the remainder of the game and the Railsplitters eventually escaped with a 73-70 win … Sophomore D'Mario Curry led LMU with 20 points on 8-10 shooting from the field while going 4-6 at the free throw line. Freshman Brandon Armstrong also turned in a big offensive performance of 16 points, while senior Wadner Joseph added 12 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes on the floor … Now 14-12 overall and 8-7 in the South Atlantic Conference race, the Railsplitters have only their regular season finale with Newberry College next Saturday night before they find out what seed they will have earned in the league tournament set for early March … Next Saturday will also be "senior night" for the Railsplitters who will say goodbye to seniors Matt Bogard and Wadner Joseph. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. in the Tex Turner Arena.

MARS HILL - Mars Hill won both of their games last week to take their season record to 16-9 overall and 6-8 in the SAC … In the first game of the week, P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, S.C.) pumped in a career-high 34 points for Mars Hill in a 94-77 victory over Wingate Wednesday night inside Stanford Arena. Mars Hill opened the game on a 10-3 run. Gore found Tony Blake (Canton, N.C.) streaking to the basket for a fastbreak layup with 17:09 left in the half to conclude the run … A Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) three pointer increased the Lions' lead to nine points, 16-7, at the 15:01 mark. Gore scored two straight buckets, including a breakaway dunk, to give Mars Hill a 20-9 lead with 13:44 left in the opening period … A Larry Staley (Charlotte, N.C.) trey triggered a 12-0 Wingate run, and the Bulldogs took the lead 21-20 off a three pointer by DeMario Mattox (Rocky Mount, Va.), but Mars Hill regained the lead on the next possession with a trey by Gore. Gore's three ignited a 12-2 scoring stretch … A layup by Akeene Coakley (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) with 6:20 left in the half made the score 32-23 in favor of the Lions … Mars Hill built a double-digit lead, 40-30, off a Polite steal and fastbreak dish to Gore at the 2:40 mark. The Lions led 44-36 at halftime. Gore recorded 18 points in the first frame … Danny Sanders (Shelby, N.C.) hit the first two buckets of the second half for Mars Hill, giving the Lions a 48-38 advantage with 19:12 remaining in the game … A three-pointer by Chase Smith (Upper Marlboro, Md.) cut the deficit to 52-43, but the Lions stretched the game back out to 11 points, 58-47, with a Gore steal and fastbreak layup at the 15:19 mark … Mars Hill increased its lead to 16 points, 69-53, off a drive and bucket by Sanders at the 11:52 mark. The Lions' lead swelled to as many as 24 points, 82-58, off a layup by Sanders with 5:52 left in the game … The Bulldogs responded with an 8-0 run. A jumper by David Johnson (Durham, N.C.) with 3:57 to go in the game made the score 82-66 in favor of Mars Hill, but Wingate would get no closer … Sanders finished with 20 points for Mars Hill. Polite had eight points off the bench … Mars Hill senior forward P.J. Gore recently joined elite company. Gore's career-high 34 points in the win over Wingate on Wednesday put him over 1,000 career points scored. He becomes only the 25th player in school history to reach the 1,000 point plateau. The North Myrtle Beach, S.C., native now has scored 1,008 points in his three years wearing the blue and gold. Gore has scored a team-high 423 points this season in 24 games, an average of 17.6 points per game. He ranks fifth in the conference in scoring per game. Just ahead of Gore on the school's all-time scoring list are Jim Medford (1,016 points), Tony Davison (1,026 points), and Stanley Wheless (1,026 points) … Earlier this season against Brevard, fellow teammate Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) surpassed the 1,000 point milestone … In the second contest of the week, The Lions' men's basketball team ran past the visiting Crusaders of North Greenville University, 91-63, in Stanford Arena on Senior Day … Prior to the contest Mars Hill recognized their six senior players. Tony Blake (Canton, N.C.), Tinos Brozos (Thessaloniki, Greece), Akeene Coakley (Mt. Pleasant , S.C.), Jamarl Glen (District Heights, Md.), P.J. Gore (North Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and Andy Miller (Franklin, N.C.) played their final contest in Stanford Arena … Gore led all scorers with 32 points followed by Blake with 15 points and six assists … Glen added nine points, seven assists and a pair of rebounds. Paul Harrison led NGU with 10 points and 11 boards … The Lions raced out to a 8-0 lead with 18:43 left in the first frame after Gore hit a shot at the charity stripe … NGU climbed back into the contest going on a 9-1 run to tie the contest (9-9) with 13:50 left in the half after Harrison hit a layup. The game remained closely played for the next eight minutes of play … With the score 32-31 in favor of the Lions, MHC ended the first half on a 19-4 run to go into the locker room at the intermission ahead by 16 (51-35). The second half belonged to the Lions … MHC quickly jumped out to a 23 point advantage after a Stoney Polite (Morganton, N.C.) 3-pointer and they never looked back … The Lions led by as many as 37 points (87-50) with 4:50 left in regulation after Glen hit a foul shot. MHC cruised down the stretch to the 28-point (91-63) victory … MHC scored 40 points in the paint, 28 off NGU miscues and 23 points off the break. The Lions connected on 52.4 percent (33-63) of the field goals and 41.9 percent (13-31) of their 3-pointers … MHC will play two SAC road games this at Tusculum on Wednesday and at Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday … The Lions were 12-16 (75 percent) from the foul line … On Tuesday night MHC will have their annual live coaches show called "Inside Mars Hill Basketball with Coaches Thomas Nash and Jennifer Nance". This coach's show will be aired live on ESPN Radio 1310 and 970 Big Wise in the Asheville market. The show also will be available live on the Internet at RedZoneMedia.com.

NEWBERRY - The Newberry College men's basketball team had an up-and-down week, taking a crucial victory against Tusculum at home before dropping a road game to Wingate on Saturday … The scarlet and gray won against Tusculum, 69-60, before losing to Wingate, 62-70 … Newberry was ranked seventh in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Rankings released on Wednesday … Coming into the week, the team also led Division II in blocked shots per game for the sixth straight week … In Wednesday's 69-60 win over Tusculum sophomore forward Jesse Wheeler led all scorers with 21 points, while reigning SAC Player of the Week Brett Goodwell joined him in double figures with 17 points ... Matt Alexander, Clemente Martin and Vytautas Valiulis each scored eight points with Alexander grabbing a team-high eight boards and Valiulis leading the scarlet and gray with six assists ... Newberry jumped out to an early 8-0 lead in the opening two and a half minutes, with a thunderous breakaway dunk from Martin on a Goodwell assist capping the run ... A pair of Pioneer triples from Rob Troutman and Moore on back-to-back possessions cut the lead to two and another Moore three-pointer with 12 minutes left in the half gave Tusculum a 14-12 lead ... The scarlet and gray answered with a 9-1 run to move out to an eight-point lead again (24-16) with 6:32 left in the period, following a dunk by Goodwell ... The Pioneers cut the lead to three later in the half, but Newberry pushed ahead by as many as nine before settling for a 30-23 lead at the half ... In the second period, Newberry used a 17-5 run to take its largest lead of the night at 56-40 with 6:23 remaining on a Valiulis trifecta ... With five minutes to play, Newberry was ahead by 16, but Tusculum battled back to cut the lead to single digits in the final minute ... TC trimmed the deficit to six with 16 seconds remaining thanks to an offensive rebound and put-back by Rob Troutman, but a pair of free throws by Grant Domsic sealed the victory for Newberry ... Newberry shot 51 percent on the evening, including 12-for-20 in the second period (60 percent) ... The Pioneers fired on a 46.2 percent clip, which included an 11-for-20 effort in the second half ... The hosts blocked six shots on the evening and forced 19 turnovers in the game, with 10 coming in the form of Newberry steals led by three apiece from Goodwell and Martin ... In addition to his 21 points, Wheeler added six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal ... In Saturday's 70-62 loss to Wingate Newberry was led by 15 points and eight rebounds from Martin, while Goodwell netted 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds ... Domsic added 11 points off the bench and Wheeler scored 10 points despite battling foul trouble throughout the game ... After the Bulldogs opened the scoring on a three-point play, Newberry took off on a 14-2 run, taking a 14-5 lead on a Kendrick Johnson putback under the hoop ... A Goodwell jumper with 12:02 extended Newberry's lead to double digits at 21-11 ... The Bulldogs battled back and regained the lead with 3:37 left in the half, when Tommy Coles' tip-in made it a 26-25 game ... Wingate would hold that one-point edge, taking a 30-29 lead into the locker room ... Wingate stormed out of the gates in the second half, going on a 14-5 surge in the opening five minutes to take a 44-34 lead on a Vaughn jumper ... Newberry responded in the middle of the half with a 10-0 run ... Newberry went back front with 8:08 to play, when a Domsic triple put the scarlet and gray up by a 51-50 margin ... But the Bulldogs scored the next seven consecutive points to take the lead for good ... Newberry cut the margin to as few as four in the final stretch, but the Bulldogs held on for the eight-point win ... Newberry held a 33-31 advantage on the boards, with 18 of those coming on the offensive end of the floor ... The scarlet and gray were only successful of 35 percent of their field goal attempts, making 21-of-60 shots, while Wingate connected on 25-of-48 shots for a 52.1 percentage ... Newberry returns home for Senior Night on Wednesday, as the scarlet and gray host the Tornados of Brevard College in Eleazer Arena for an 8 p.m. tipoff ... The regular season closes at 8 p.m. Saturday in Harrogate, Tenn., against the Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial University.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (18-8, 10-5 SAC) went 1-1 last week in a pair of South Atlantic Conference road games … Tusculum dropped a 69-60 decision at Newberry, but rebounded with a 72-55 victory at Brevard … The Pioneers are currently in second place in the conference and were ranked sixth in the latest NCAA Division II Southeast Region poll … TC has one regular season game remaining against Mars Hill this Wednesday … A win in that game would clinch the No. 2 seed in next week's Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament, while also keeping hopes alive for claiming the program's second SAC Championship … In the win at Brevard, junior Kyle Moore poured in 30 points, including his 1,000th as a Pioneer … Moore went 8-for-13 from the floor, including 6-for-10 from three-point territory … He has scored 1,017 points in his two seasons at Tusculum, becoming the 21st player in school history to achieve the feat … Moore scored his 1,000th career point earlier this month at Wingate (Moore played his rookie season at NCAA I Winthrop where he chipped in 50 points - He has 1,049 for his collegiate career) … Moore also broke a Tusculum record with his 175 made free throws this season, surpassing the previous mark by two-time All-American Lenzy Houston … Moore is still 20 free throws shy of the SAC record of 195 by Lenoir-Rhyne All-American and former Tusculum assistant coach Daniel Willis … Senior Ryan Troutman added 15 points and four assists, while junior Josh Bennett contributed eight points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots off the bench … Sophomore Rob Troutman posted four points and seven rebounds as the Pioneers have won 10 of their last 12 games … The Pioneers led throughout most of the contest and used a 20-point first half by Moore to take a 39-28 at the intermission … In the second half, Tusculum went on a 9-0 run in the first 3:47 of the period, including a dunk by Bennett and three-pointer from Ryan Troutman and a basket from freshman Taylor Hobbs as TC led 48-28 … Tusculum would maintain its double-digit for the remainder of the game, including its largest advantage at 58-36 with 8:08 remaining following a three-point play by Tommy Klempin … TC led by 22 again at the 6:09 mark after a three-pointer by junior Jimmy Boone …. Moore becomes only the second player this season to score 30 markers on Brevard and marks the third time this year he has eclipsed 30 points in a game … Tusculum shot 48 percent from the floor, including 11-for-22 from beyond the arc. Ryan Troutman finished the game shooting 5-for-8 from the floor and was perfect in his three 3-point attempts … Against Newberry, Moore finished with 18 points, while Rob Troutman added 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor … Bennett was perfect from the floor going 5-for-5 for his 11 points, while Ryan Troutman added 10 points and five assists … Newberry scored the first eight points of the contest 2:14 into the game … TC responded with an 8-2 run and later captured its first lead of the night at 14-12 following a three-pointer by Moore at the 12:01 mark of the first half … The Scarlet and Gray answered with a 9-1 run to move out to an eight-point lead again (24-16) with 6:32 left in the period, following a dunk … The home team would eventually settle for a 30-23 lead at the half. In the second period, Newberry used a 17-5 run to take its largest lead of the night at 56-40 with 6:23 remaining … Tusculum would battle down the stretch and would trim the deficit to six with 16 seconds remaining thanks to an offensive rebound and put-back by Rob Troutman as TC trailed 66-60. But a pair of free throws sealed the victory for Newberry … Newberry shot 51 percent on the evening, including 12-for-20 in the second period (60 percent)… The Pioneers fired on a 46.2 percent clip, which included an 11-for-20 effort in the second half … Tusculum has made a three-point field goal in 607 consecutive games, including 31 straight games in a row by Moore … Moore has made 84 three-pointers this season, which are the sixth most in TC history and seventh in the SAC Record Book … Moore is averaging 21.2 points per game, which is tied for the ninth best average in SAC history while his 551 points this year are 11th in league history … Ryan Troutman has led the league in assists the last two seasons, including 6.12 apg this year … His 159 helpers this year are already the 10th most in SAC history … His 5.65 assists per game average is presently the best in conference history, just ahead of former Newberry All-American Brandon Hughes (5.60 apg - 1996-2000) … The regular season finale against Mars Hill will be Senior Night as Tusculum honors senior Ryan Troutman and Marko Kostic in pre-game ceremonies at Pioneer Arena … Tusculum is 12-3 at home this year, which is a new Pioneer Arena record.

WINGATE - The Wingate University men's basketball senior class combined for 45 points and 26 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to a 70-62 victory over Newberry College Saturday afternoon in Cuddy Arena. Prior to the game, the Wingate University athletic department celebrated the accomplishments of the four Bulldog seniors playing their final Saturday home contest. The triumph boosts Wingate's record to 12-13 overall and 8-6 in the South Atlantic Conference. Wingate is 10-1 overall in the friendly confines of Cuddy Arena this season. The Bulldogs sweep the Wingate-Newberry season series, as Wingate claimed a 75-68 victory at Newberry Saturday, Dec. 5, 2008 ... Bulldog senior guard DeMario Mattox led the hosts with a game-high 16 points. He added five rebounds and three steals to his statistics ledger Saturday. Senior center Kenny Villines recorded his third double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Freshman guard Jamie Vaughn added 12 points off the Wingate bench ... The contest was a game of spurts. Wingate put together a 31-9 spanning both halves, turning a 25-17 deficit into a 48-34 lead on a jumper by redshirt junior forward David Johnson with 14:03 remaining in the contest. Seven different Bulldogs scored during the 31-9 flurry ... Newberry did not fold the tents, as the scarlet-and-gray mounted a 17-2 run to take a 51-50 lead on a fast-break steal and dunk at the 7:46 plateau. Mattox hit a jumper in the paint at the 6:48 mark, giving the Bulldogs the lead for good at 52-51. Newberry went exactly four minutes without a field goal while Wingate pulled away. The Bulldogs led by as many as nine points in the waning moments ... Wingate connected on 25-of-48 field goals for 52.1 percent. In the pivotal second half, the Bulldogs shot a sizzling 63.6 percent (14-of-22). Newberry converted 21-of-60 field goals for 35.0 percent Saturday afternoon. The scarlet-and-gray hoisted 24 three-point field goal attempts, netting six. Domsic was three-for-seven from long distance ... In pre-game ceremonies, the Wingate University athletic department honored four seniors playing their final season in the blue-and-gold. In addition to Mattox and Villines, seniors Tommy Coles and Rosco Turner suited up for their final Saturday contest in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldogs also recognized senior student athletic trainer Karen Martin ... Wingate's four seniors have won two Food Lion SAC tournament championships and one Food Lion regular season crown during their tenure. In 2007, the Bulldogs won the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional tournament and earned a berth in the Elite Eight. Wingate has participated in the NCAA post-season three-of-three years during the class of 2009's tenure ... Mars Hill College senior forward P.J. Gore posted a career-high 34 points as the host Lions topped Wingate University 94-77 Wednesday night in Stanford Arena on the MHC campus. Vaughn led the Bulldogs with 13 points. Coles contributed 12 points for Wingate ... Wingate is averaging 76.4 points per game in 11 home contests, while allowing only 69.8 points per game. The Bulldogs are 10-1 overall in Cuddy Arena this season. Mattox is averaging 13.8 points per game in home contests, while Villines is posting 10.3 points per game on the Cuddy hardwood. The Bulldogs return home Wednesday night, hosting Lenoir-Rhyne University at 8 p.m.