Wingate Uses Late Rally to Stun Lions
The Mars Hill men’s basketball team was unable to hold off a furious rally by Wingate, falling 79-73 in South Atlantic Conference action in Cuddy Arena on Saturday.
WINGATE, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's basketball team was unable to hold off a furious rally by Wingate, falling 79-73 in South Atlantic Conference action in Cuddy Arena on Saturday. With the win, Wingate improves to 12-6 and 9-5 in the league, while Mars Hill falls to 3-16 and 1-13 in the league.
Carter Wright led Mars Hill with a game high 22 points, with Isaiah Cuthbertson scoring 21. Cuthbertson led the Lions with six rebounds.
Wingate was led by Isiah Cureton's double-double, as the freshman scored 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Dustin Dodd and Ryan Daye each scored 12 points for the Bulldogs..
Mars Hill led 6-3 following a Kevin Haynes 3-pointer with 17:36 to play in the opening half. Wingate took an 8-6 lead after a Daye 3-pointer before the Lions retook the lead on their next possession on a Wright 3-pointer. Dodd gave the Bulldogs a 14-13 lead before Mars Hill took a 15-14 lead following Thomas Anderson's second made free throw with 13:52 to play. The Lions led 21-19 at the midway point before opening up a game high 16 point lead, 40-24, with 4:54 to play in the half. Mars Hill took a 47-34 lead into halftime after shooting 59.4 percent from the field.
The Lions extended their lead to 14 points following a Haynes 3-pointer with 17:16 to play and extended their lead to a game high 18 points, 62-44, after a Devonte Williams layup with 13:22 remaining. Wingate cut the Lion lead to six, 64-58, with just under eight minutes to play before the Lions went on a 7-0 run, extending their lead to 71-58 with 6:07 remaining. Wingate answered with a Cureton layup before an Anderson jump shot extended the lead back to 13 with 5:22 left. Anderson's bucket would be the final points for Mars Hill in the contest.
Wingate began its final rally with a pair of Jeff Parker free throws to cut the Lion lead to 73-62 with five minutes to play. Mars Hill came up empty on its next five possessions as Wingate cut the deficit to one, 73-72, with 1:49 remaining. Xavier Griffin completed the old fashioned three point play to give Wingate a 75-73 lead they wouldn't relinquish with 1:17 remaining. Mars Hill turned the ball over on its next two possessions as Griffin and Daye sank free throws to secure the victory.
Mars Hill returns to Stanford Arena on Wednesday night, hosting Brevard. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
