Bulldog men get win over Mars Hill

by Samantha Bare
Staff Writer

Wingate’s men’s basketball improved to 13-11 overall; 5-7 in the SAC as they cruised to an 85-62 win over Mars Hill on Wednesday night.

Midway in the first half, freshman forward Quan Alexander’s and-one free throw increased the Bulldog lead to 20-15, and the Bulldogs never looked back. While Wingate couldn’t find their usual rhythm behind the three-point arc, eight different players hit field goals to give the team a 36-28 edge at halftime. Alexander finished the night with nine points.

Wingate faltered in the second half against a rejuvenated Mars Hill team and turned the ball over 15 times. Senior guard Larry Staley said, “We just had to keep working hard at that point. Hard work pays off, as they say, and we were able to come back from our mistakes and just work through them.” Staley led all scorers with 20 points. Freshman forward Odell Turner posted a double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds on the night.

The Bulldogs were able to contain Danny Sanders, a senior guard, to 19 points. Coming into the contest, Sanders was the number two scorer in the SAC with an average 23.4 points per game average.

“Larry did a great job guarding him,” said Wingate head coach Brian Goode. “He jammed him up and did great not letting him dribble. He pulled off a few shots on the dribble but Larry did a nice job with not letting him get comfortable.”

Dion Malachai led the Lions with 11 rebounds and also contributed 14 points. Mars Hill fell to 13-11 overall; 8-6 in the SAC. The Lions went 21-for-36 on free throws, as compared to the 26-for-30 shot by the Bulldogs.

Wingate is a team filled with freshmen; three freshmen are on the starting squad. “That’s bad in the sense that we don’t have a lot of experience,” Goode said. “It’s positive in that they’re so young and naïve that when we’re down, they never thing we’re not good anymore. They just keep working through it.”

The conference race is still very close. “Maybe this game means nothing [for conference standings],” said Goode. “It only means something if we are able to string together a few more. We’ll do the best we can and finish where we finish.”

The Bulldogs are back in action at Newberry on Sat. Feb. 20 at 4 p.m.