Strong Second Half Pushes Bulldogs Past Cobras

WINGATE, N.C. – The Coker College men's basketball team fell to the Wingate University Bulldogs by a score of 98-79 on Wednesday (Feb. 15) in a South Atlantic Conference road matchup. 

A Miguel Priest lay in at the 18:44 mark gave the Cobras a 5-4 advantage. Coker stretched the lead to 14-6, thanks to nine straight points by Jake Barrett. Wingate battled its way back to a 23-23 tie with 9:24 left in the first half and a 28-23 lead with 8:25 left. The Navy and Gold fought back to tie it up at 33-all and 38-all in the late stages of the opening half. Wingate held a narrow 43-41 advantage as the two sides departed for the locker rooms at the half.

A layup by LaDarius Williams at the 16:46 mark evened the game up at 49-49. However, it was Wingate going on an 8-1 run to take a 57-50 lead with 14:17 left in the second half. Another bucket by Williams at the 9:12 mark closed the deficit to 66-55. Wingate went on another scoring run, outscoring the Cobras 8-0 to take 74-65 lead with seven minutes left. The Bulldogs rode the momentum to take a late double-digit lead and to pick up the eventual 98-79 win.

Barrett led all scorers with a career-high 24 points on 9-19 shooting from the field. After tying his career-high last time out, Williams set a new career-high with 17 points on 7-12 shooting. Jalal Abdul-Azeez rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Cobras, chipping in 13 points off the bench.

The Cobras will be back in action on Saturday (Feb. 18) at 4 p.m. to host Mars Hill University. Fans are encouraged to wear pink for Play 4 Kay Day.