GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Trenton Gibson recorded his second straight double-double while making some key free throws down the stretch in Tusculum's 65-60 South Atlantic Conference win over visiting Wingate Wednesday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
The Pioneers (8-4, 8-2 SAC) record their third win in a row and avenge last month's 92-75 road loss to the Bulldogs (11-4, 7-4 SAC). The victory also keeps the Pioneers in a tie atop the conference standings.
Tusculum overcame an 11-point first half deficit as TU records its fourth home win a row over Wingate, who has its three-game winning streak snapped.
Gibson led the Pioneers with 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as he notches his 11th career double-double. Justin Mitchell added a dozen points, while the post duo of William Vedder and Inady Legiste tallied 11 markers apiece off the bench.
Wingate's Jarren Cottingham led all scorers with his 18 points, Destin Clark contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Sean Elmore scored 11 points in the loss.
The Bulldogs led throughout most of the first half as WU went on an 11-0 run, sparked by Cottingham's five points as Wingate led 29-18 at the 4:32 mark of the period.
WU held a 32-22 lead with under three minutes to go, but Tusculum finished the half 10-3 spurt which included back-to-back buckets by Justin Mitchell and a three-pointer from Jalen Crowder as the Bulldogs took a 35-32 lead into the locker room.
Cottingham scored the first points of the second half, but Tusculum would go on a 9-0 run which included a five points by Mitchell and a basket each from Gibson and Jacob Hobbs as TU led 41-37 with 16:41 left in the game.
But back came the Bulldogs as Elmore drilled a triple from the wing and Cottingham scored on a fast-break layup to reclaim the advantage at 42-41 with 15:55 remaining.
The lead would exchange hands as TU's KJ Crump canned a jumper in the paint and Vontrez Roberts responded with a pair of free throws for a 44-43 lead for the visitors.
The Pioneers scored eight straight including a three-pointer and a two-point basket by Legiste and a Gibson three-point play as TU took its largest lead of the day at 51-44 with 10:26 on the scoreboard.
Wingate tied the game for a seventh time at 54-54 following a 10-3 run over a span of 4:25, sparked by eight points from Cottingham which included his two 3-pointers for the afternoon.
Legiste seized the lead back with a baseline jumper with 5:36 remaining, but Destin Clark came up a with clutch tip-in to even the score at 56-56 at the 4:17 mark.
Vedder made a pair of free throws with 3:51 left, but Donnell Nixon drained a long-range trifecta with 3:38 to go for Wingate's first lead (59-58) since the early moments of the second half.
The momentum turned for the Pioneers as Vedder scored on a fast-break and-one and made his fourth straight free throw to convert the three-point play as TU led 61-59 with 2:09 remaining.
Wingate's Clark was fouled in the act of shooting, but made one of his two free throw tries as Tusculum held a 61-60 lead with 1:58 left.
Tusculum came up empty on its next trip down the floor as the Bulldogs hauled in the rebound with 1:40 left. Wingate was unable to get off a shot on the possession due to a turnover as Gibson was fouled and sent to the line with 57.7 seconds left. He made both free throws for a 63-60 lead.
The Bulldogs worked the ball around for a tying three-pointer, but the Tusculum defense clamped down and forced their 14th turnover of the game with 28.3 seconds left. After a Wingate timeout, the Bulldogs mounted a full-court press. The Pioneers got the ball into the hands of Gibson who was fouled with 19.4 seconds remaining. He would make two more free throws which secured the win for Tusculum.
TU finished the game shooting 40 percent from the flooring including 6-of-28 from three-point land. TU went 11-of-15 from the foul line, including a perfect 7-of-7 by Gibson who has connected on his last 16 consecutive free throws, dating back to the second of last month's Wingate game.
Wingate was held to 35 percent shooting for the game including 8-of-30 in the final 20 minutes. The Bulldogs, the top free throw shooting team in the SAC, continued that trend making 11 of their 14 trips to the foul line (78.6%).
Tusculum won the rebound battle by a 40-37 margin including eight boards by TU graduate student Brandon Mitchell, who upped his career total 695 rebounds and looking to become only the fourth player in program history to eclipse the 700-rebound plateau. Mitchell added two more blocked shots to his school-record 182 rejections for his career, which moves him into ninth place in the SAC record in that category, moving past former Wingate standout Jeff Parker who had 181 blocks from 2010-2014.
Legiste, who is leading the Pioneers in blocked shots this year, accounted for three more, giving him 46 for his young career, which are already the ninth-most in Tusculum history.
Gibson is also closing in on the 1,400-point club for Tusculum as he his seven points shy of becoming the 11th player in school history to achieve the feat.
Tusculum returns to action on Saturday when they host Catawba College for a 4 p.m. contest at Pioneer Arena.
