GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum's Connor Jordan hit the game-winning free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining as the Pioneers defeated Wingate 73-71 Wednesday night at Pioneer Arena in a quarterfinal game of the 2023 South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Championship.
Tusculum (No. 2 seed in SAC Mountain Division) advances to Saturday night's second semifinal game at Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. The Pioneers (16-10) face Piedmont Division top-seed Catawba in a 7:30 p.m. match-up. Wingate (No. 3 seed in Piedmont) ends its season at 15-13 overall.
The Bulldogs held a 65-59 lead with 3:44 remaining following a jumper by Jarren Cottingham for two of his 16 points.
TU's Inady Legiste converted a layup to trim the deficit to four (65-61) and Jalen Crowder forced a steal on the following possession to start a fast-break which ended up with Justin Mitchell throwing down a two-handed slam dunk as the Pioneers trailed by two (65-63)
Legiste, who was playing with four fouls, recorded his third blocked shot of the game and 100th of his career. He would come down with rebound and later score the game-tying bucket with 2:20 remaining to knot the score at 65-65.
After a Wingate timeout, Andreas Wilson hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game, all coming in the second half, to put the Bulldogs back in front at 68-65 with 1:52 to go.
Jordan's ensuing jumper was off the mark, but he would rebound his miss and convet a layup as Tusculum trailed by one at 68-67 with 1:17 left.
The Pioneers forced a turnover on the next possession as James West IV came up with the third theft of the contest with 51 seconds remaining. Seven seconds later, Mitchell buried a three-pointer from the left wing as Tusculum regained the lead at 70-68 with 44 seconds on the clock.
Tusculum forced a turnover as an errant pass underneath the basket went out of bounds with 24 seconds left. Mitchell was fouled with 21.7 seconds to go and sending him to the line for two shots. He missed the front end of the two-shot bonus but made the second to make it a 71-68 TU lead.
After a timeout, the Bulldogs found Wilson at the top of the key as he launched a three-pointer which was no good, but he was fouled on the play with 7.5 seconds left. For Wilson, it was the second time on the night he was fouled while shooting a triple. He made two of three the first time, but calmly made all three free throws including the tying point following a Tusculum timeout.
Jordan took the in-bounds pass and drove the length of the floor and was fouled while going down the lane sending the league's third-leading free throw shooter to the line with 2.2 seconds left. With both teams out of timeouts, Jordan made both free throws giving Tusculum a two-point lead. Wingate would get off a desperation heave from 75-feet away which was no good as the Pioneers advance to the SAC semifinal round for the eighth time in program history and third time in the last four years.
Legiste and Mitchell each finished with 17 points each, while Jordan and West posted 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Wilson led all scorers with his 20 points, all coming in the second half. He went 5-of-8 from three-point land and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Cottingham contributed 16 points for the visitors, while Destin Clark scored a dozen in the loss.
The Pioneers recorded a season-high 11 blocked shots, which are the second most in school history. Kyle Brown had four blocks while Legiste and Hobbs had three each. Legiste becomes the sixth player in program history with 100 career blocks.
Tusculum out-rebounded the Bulldogs by a 42-30 margin including 22-6 on the offensive glass resulting into 23 second chance points. TU also won the battle in the paint (38-24) while also scoring 23 points off of Wingate's 16 miscues.
The first half was a back and forth battle as the game had three ties and eight lead changes. The Bulldogs led by as many as seven points in the opening period including 16-9 following a Josh Massey three-point play. Wingate led 27-21 at the 3:23 mark of the half but the Pioneers went on a 7-0 run which included five points by West including a three-pointer with 35 seconds left before the half as TU led 28-27.
Clark would draw a foul with 11.3 seconds left and hit both free throws for a 29-28 lead. But the Pioneers would get the last bucket of the period with a slam dunk by Hobbs with 3.2 seconds on the clock as TU took a 30-29 lead into the intermission.
The Pioneers scored the first five points of the half to take its largest lead of the game at 35-29 after a West triple and a Legiste layup. The Pioneers held a 44-39 lead before Wingate went on a 9-0 spurt over a span of 2:32 to go up 48-44 following a Wilson triple from the corner. Wilson would connect on back-to-back 3-pointers later in the half to push the WU advantage to seven (54-49) with 7:46 left.
The Pioneers and Catawba will meet in the SAC Tournament for a seventh time which are the most against a TU opponent (Tied 3-3). The only other time they have met in the semifinal was in the 2005 tournament where Tusculum upset the top-seeded Indians and would later win their only SAC Tournament crown.
