GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Josh Massey scored a game-high 28 points including 19 in the second half to lead visiting Wingate to an 83-76 win over Tusculum Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
The Bulldogs (18-5, 13-2 SAC) sweep the season series over the Pioneers (10-11, 8-7 SAC) and remain in first place in the South Atlantic Conference standings. Wingate also snaps Tusculum's three-game winning streak while handing the Pioneers their first February home loss since 2020.
Senior Connor Jordan led Tusculum with 18 points while recording his 1,000th point in his collegiate career.
The Bulldogs did their damage at the free throw line as Wingate went a blistering 30-of-36 from the stripe for 83.3 percent. The visitors went 18-of-20 from the line in the second half alone. The Bulldogs entered the game as the No. 2 free throw shooting team in NCAA Division II at 80 percent.
Massey shot 10-of-14 from the floor with a pair of three-pointers and was perfect in his six trips to the free throw line. Wingate's Kendall Taylor finished with 21 points and five assists, while Donnell Nixon posted 18 markers and went 10-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Tusculum's Bryce Jackson tallied 16 points including three 3-pointers, while Akeem Odusipe matched a career-best with 15 points while shooting 4-of-5 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line. TJ Printup added eight points and season-bests with eight rebounds and three steals.
The Pioneers jumped out to a 16-8 lead in the opening five minutes as the Pioneers got triples from Jackson and Printup. The Bulldogs scored eight straight including a pair of Kendall Taylor free throws at the 11:10 mark to tie the game at 16-16.
After a Travis Pourciau jumper to give TU the lead, the Bulldogs went on a 13-3 run to take a 29-21 advantage with 6:59 left in the half. The Pioneers responded with an 11-2 spurt over the next 4:04 as TU went up 32-31 with three minutes to go in the period.
But the Bulldogs would close out the half with eight straight points to take a 39-32 lead into the locker room.
Jackson came out of the break with a layup to trim the deficit to five (39-34), but Wingate went on a 14-5 run to take its largest lead of the game at 53-39 with 15:31 remaining.
Tusculum would chip away at the deficit and trimmed it to single-digits following Printup's dunk as TU trailed 55-47 with 11:54 to go.
Wingate pushed the lead back out to double-digits on Vontrez Robert's three-point play to lead by 11 at 60-49 with 10:52 on the clock.
Tusculum went on a 12-2 run and cut the deficit to one at 62-61 after KJ Crump's two free throws with 6:31 on the scoreboard.
With Wingate clinging to a 66-65 lead with five minutes to go, the Bulldogs went on a 9-1 run to extend their lead to 75-66 with 2:32 remaining, capped off by a Massey jumper.
The Pioneers would cut the deficit to six points after three-pointer by Josiah Morris, but the Bulldogs would make six straight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Jordan has 1,001 points as a collegian, including 347 points in his two seasons at King University and 654 points in his 48 games as a Pioneer.
Wingate shot a steady 53.3 percent from the field and recorded 16 assists on their 24 made field goals. The Bulldogs went 5-of-9 from three-point land and edged the Pioneers on the glass by a 31-29 margin.
Tusculum finished shooting 41.4 percent from the floor and went 7-of-22 from beyond the arch and 21-of-24 at the free throw line (87.5%).
The Pioneers will be on the road for the final time this month when they travel to arch rival Carson-Newman on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. contest in Jefferson City. C-N defeated Tusculum 83-73 back in December in Greeneville.
