GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Mike Tyson recorded 12 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots to lead the Wingate University men's basketball team to a 60-51 South Atlantic Conference victory at Tusculum College Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
The Bulldogs (7-7, 3-1 SAC) record their fourth straight victory, while the Pioneers fall to 5-7 overall and 2-2 in league play.
Wingate was sparked by its reserves as the Bulldog bench outscored Tusculum by a 34-8 margin, including 21-8 in the first half as the visitors led 37-21 at the intermission.
The lone Tusculum player in double-figure scoring was Jordan Davidson, who posted 22 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in the loss. Davidson shot 10-of-19 from the floor in his 34 minutes of action. Tommy Klempin accounted for seven points and four rebounds, while Dionte Grey and Darius Carter contributed six points apiece.
Wingate got 11 points and seven rebounds from Paidrick Matilus, while Eddie Lewis posted nine points, two assists and two steals in the win.
The Bulldogs opened the game with an 11-4 run in the first four-and-a-half minutes, capped off by a three-pointer by Robert Carpenter. Carter converted a pair of foul shots for the Pioneers to make the score 15-12 at the 10:55 mark. But Wingate followed with a 10-2 spurt over the next 4:23, thanks to treys by Jaime Vaughn and Carpenter and a pair of Tyson buckets to lead 25-14 with 6:32 remaining before halftime.
Tusculum cut the deficit to single digits at 30-21 following a layup by Kevin Vest with two minutes left in the period. But the Bulldogs closed out the half with seven straight points, including a Matilus three-pointer just before the buzzer to send Wingate to the locker room with a 16-point lead (37-21) at the break.
"Wingate came out with a very good game plan. They were down a couple of guys and went with a small line-up against us," said Tusculum head coach Michael Jones. "I told our guys before the game started to not let that be a rallying point for them and make sure you take control quickly and early, and see how they rebound, and we never got of the block to do that."
In the first 20 minutes, Wingate forced 11 turnovers and converted those into 14 points, while limiting the Pioneers to 38.1 percent shooting (8-of-21).
Tusculum fought to get back into the fray several times in the second half, including an 8-2 run to cut the score to 52-42 following a three-pointer by Justin Steigerwald with 5:21 remaining. But the Bulldogs responded with a layup by Vaughn and a three-pointer by Matilus to make the score 58-44 with 3:11 left as the Bulldogs maintained its double-digit advantage until a late- Tusculum push to provide the final margin.
Neither team shot above 40 percent for the game as Wingate finished shooting 39.3 percent, while Tusculum fired 38.5 percent. Wingate went 9-for-20 from beyond the arc, including seven treys in the first half.
Tusculum returns to action Wednesday night when it hosts Carson-Newman for an 8 p.m. contest.
- TC -
