GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Wingate University men's basketball team overcame a 17-point deficit and rallied to a 67-57 win at Tusculum University Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena.
The Bulldogs (10-10, 9-9 SAC) outscored the Pioneers (5-18, 5-14 SAC) 41-22 in the second half including 15:41 span where Wingate went on a 33-6 run.
During the drought, Tusculum would miss 15 straight shots as the Pioneers went without a made field goal for over 15 minutes while also committing nine turnovers.
WU would turn a 45-28 deficit with 17:35 left in the game into a 61-51 lead with 1:51 left in the contest.
Wingate's Kendall Taylor led all scorers with 23 points including 16 in the second half. He went 7-of-12 from the floor and 8-of-8 at the free throw line. Aaron Hall finished with 11 points, while Jaden Lingo added 10 markers as the Bulldogs split the season series with Tusculum.
The Pioneers got 20 points from Bryce Jackson and TJ Printup finished with 13 points including three 3-pointers. Akeem Odusipe grabbed a game-high nine rebounds as he posted seven points and three blocked shots.
The led the entire first half and took a 35-26 lead into the locker room. The Pioneers extended that advantage with an 8-0 run to start the second period which was sparked by back-to-back triples from Printup.
Two free throws by Taylor stopped the TU run, but Denaj Kimber would come up with a steal and a layup as the Pioneers led 45-28 with 17:35 remaining in game. That would be TU's last field goal for the next 15:02. Printup would snap the field goal skid with his jumper with 2:30 on the scoreboard. By that time, Tusculum was behind 58-51 with the momentum going the way of the visitors.
Jordan Miller hit a three-pointer 41 seconds later as Wingate took its first double-digit lead of the afternoon.
Jackson would score four straight for Tusculum including his layup with 1:13 left as TU trailed 62-56. But a Derek Bradley three-pointer with 41 seconds left put the game out of reach.
Wingate finished the game shooting 23-of-52 from the floor for 44 percent and recorded 15 assists, including seven from Miller. The Bulldogs also went 15-of-19 from the foul line including 11-of-13 in the second half.
Tusculum finished the game shooting 39 percent including 7-of-26 from the field in the second half (28%). TU went 6-of-9 at the charity stripe and out-rebounded Wingate by a 35-32 margin. WU forced 17 turnovers resulting into 16 points.
Tusculum will close out its three-game home-stand on Wednesday when the Pioneers host arch-rival Carson-Newman University for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
