BOX SCORE       POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

Hickory, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs never trailed on Sunday afternoon, defeating the top-seeded and 16th-ranked Anderson University Trojans 66-59 to notch their second win over a top-20 team in as many days to claim the 2012 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference title. Wingate improves to 20-11 overall, and receives the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Anderson falls to 24-5 overall, and will hear its postseason fate in Sunday night’s selection show.
 
The Bulldogs win the SAC Tournament title for the fourth time in school history, while notching their first championship since the 2007 season. Wingate advances to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in school history, making its first appearance since the 2008 season. In seven previous trips, Wingate is 5-7 overall with an Elite Eight finish in 2007.
 
“I’m really happy for our guys,” Head coach Brian Good says. “The regular season didn’t go like we wanted it to, but for a week we were the best in the league. We certainly took our share of lumps, but this team got up and kept competing.”
 
Senior guard Jaime Vaughn (Tallahassee, Fla.) had 22 points to lead the Wingate attack, hitting all eight free throw attempts on the afternoon. Senior guard Chase Smith (Upper Marlboro, Md.) added 13 points, while junior forward Odell Turner (Charlotte, N.C.) had 12 points and eight rebounds.
 
Junior guard Denzail Jones (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) led the Trojans with 19 points on the day. The SAC Player of the Year was held to five-of-14 shooting on the afternoon after scoring a tournament-record 50 points on Saturday. Senior guard Tyrell McDowell (Miami, Fla.) and sophomore guard Chandler Hash (Greer, S.C.) added 11 points each for the Trojans.
 
The Wingate defense shut down Anderson senior center Taylor Shugart (Rock Hill, S.C.), holding him to five points on one-of-11 shooting after he scored 27 points in Saturday’s semifinal. “Our post defense was really good, and we got a great individual effort from Deion Turman,” Good says. He did a terrific job on him and obviously made it really tough for him to score.
 
The Bulldogs came out on fire jumping out to a 16-2 lead which included an 11-0 run to start the game. Junior guard Paidrick Matilus (Boynton Beach, Fla.) knocked down a triple to start the game, while Smith added a three to make it 8-0. Turner’s layup, followed by a free throw from sophomore forward Deion Turman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) made it 11-0. Smith added another three, while a Turner layup made it 16-2 at the 14:17 mark.
 
The Trojans had the answer, using a 19-6 run to get to within one at 22-21. Hash sparked the run by hitting three straight triples, while a three from McDowell made it a one-point game with 3:50 remaining in the half. Wingate scored five of the last seven points of the half, getting a layup from Matilus with nine seconds left to take a 27-23 lead heading to intermission. Wingate shot 38 percent in the opening half, holding Anderson to 26 percent shooting while forcing eight turnovers.
 
A Smith jumper pushed the Wingate lead back to six just over three minutes into the second half. Jones hit a jumper to trim the lead back to two, but the ‘Dogs had the answer, taking a 36-29 advantage on a pair of Vaughn free throws. Two more Vaughn free throws, along with a Vaughn jumper gave the Bulldogs a 46-36 lead with 8:52 remaining in the half.
 
Anderson would not go quietly, scoring nine straight points to trim the lead to one on two free throws from Jones at the 5:50 mark. A Turner layup and Vaughn triple put Wingate back on top by six, but Jones knocked down his only three of the day on the other end to cut the lead in half with 4:18 remaining. Vaughn drained another triple, while a pair of Matilus free throws put Wingate on top by eight with 3:45 to go. McDowell capped a 5-0 run with a layup to make it a three-point game with two minutes remaining, but Vaughn had the answer again, nailing a tough jumper to push the advantage back to five. The Bulldogs knocked down six free throws in the final 41 seconds to preserve the victory.
 
Wingate shot 36.5 percent from the field, hitting five-of-16 from three-point range (31.3 percent). The Bulldog defense held the Trojans to just 30.5 percent shooting from the field, while Anderson hit seven-of-21 from beyond the arc (33.3 percent) on the afternoon. The Trojans held a 41-38 rebounding advantage, while Wingate held a 20-16 advantage in the paint.
 
The NCAA Tournament will be announced Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. The NCAA.com will provide a live stream of the selection show. “We are very much looking forward to tournament,” Good says. I can’t imagine anyone has played tougher schedule than us. Our team is so well-tested and I know they’ll be ready to go.”