WINGATE, N.C. — A balanced scoring attack led by Corbin Pack’s 18-point performance paced the Wingate Bulldogs to an 80-66 win over the Tusculum Pioneers in a rare Friday afternoon tilt at Cuddy Arena.
The Bulldogs (10-10, 5-9 South Atlantic Conference) complete the season sweep over the Pioneers (8-12, 4-10 SAC).
Wingate’s Kendall Campbell shot 8-of-12 from the floor as he finished with 17 points. Isaiah Vick came just short of a triple-double as he posted 11 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Derek Bradley accounted for 12 points, while Stephen Quinn buried three 3-pointers for his nine markers.
Four TU players finished in double figures as Bryce Jackson finished with 17 points, while TJ Printup had 15 points and seven rebounds. The duo of Jordan Attia and Damjan Vukcevic recorded 11 points apiece in the loss.
Wingate used an early 20-7 run which were sparked by back-to-back triples from Quinn and a Nas Berry triple as the Bulldogs took a 37-24 lead with 4:24 remaining in the first half. TU would get the deficit to 10 before Wingate carried a 43-31 lead into the locker room.
Jackson and Campbell traded baskets before Printup buried a three-pointer as Tusculum trailed 45-36 one minute into the second half.
Wingate responded with a 16-4 run with Pack accounting for eight of those points including a pair of three-pointers as the Bulldogs took their largest lead of the game at 61-40 with 10:23 remaining.
Tusculum answered with a 16-4 run of its own to trim the Wingate lead to singe digits at 65-56 with 5:22 to go.
The Bulldogs fired back with an 11-1 spurt capped off by a Bradley three-point play to extend the lead to 76-57 with 2:11.
Tusculum made one last gasp with a 9-0 run as Jackson buried a triple and Printup followed with a pair of three-pointers to cut the deficit to 76-66 with 1:11 remaining.
Wingate would get a pair of free throws from Alex Godley and Bradley converted a layup to put the game away.
The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 29-of-57 (50.9%) from the floor and recorded 21 assists on its 29 made field goals. Tusculum was held to 35 percent shooting (21-of-60) and were out-rebounded 44-31.
The Pioneers will play four of its next five games at home beginning with Wednesday’s SAC match-up with long-time foe Lincoln Memorial beginning at 7:30 p.m.
