NEWBERRY — Newberry College senior Mason Spease hit a game-winning three-point basket from the left corner to lift the Newberry College men’s basketball team (5-2, 1-1 SAC) to a 101-98 South Atlantic Conference victory over Wingate (2-5, 1-2 SAC) Wednesday night at Eleazer Arena.
In addition to his late game heroics, Spease also led Newberry with a team-high 19 points on 5-for-8 shooting from behind the arc. Rob Valentine scored a season-high 16 points. D.J. Copeland and Marshall Lange chipped in 10 points apiece.
Gerald Evans notched a team-high six rebounds, dished out five assists and swiped five steals.
After Evans stole the ball near midcourt, Newberry called timeout with 0:34 seconds remaining in the contest. The Wolves worked the clock and Spease drained the clutch three from the corner with 0:11 seconds to go off a beautiful pass from Valentine.
Wingate had a chance to tie the game, but Josh Dominguez’s three-point shot hit off the back iron and Valentine corralled the rebound to seal the victory for the Wolves.
The Wolves forced 23 Bulldog turnovers, turning them into 30 points. Newberry turned the ball over only 10 times, its lowest output of the season.
After an early back-and-forth first half, Wingate stretched its lead to a game-high 13 points at the 9:32 mark. Newberry rallied back and cut the Bulldog lead to 39-38 with 4:13 remaining in the half. The Wolves pulled in front 45-44 on a James Stepp made three. Newberry led 47-46 at halftime.
Newberry notched a 16-5 run to build its largest lead of the game at 79-67 with 9:38 to play in the second half. Wingate then rallied to tie the score at 80-80 as neither team led by more than four points the rest of the way.
Newberry shot 81.6 percent (31-for-38) from the free-throw line. The Wolves went 18-for-40 (45.0 percent) from deep. Wingate shot just 58.3 percent (7-for-12) from the charity stripe.
Mike Baez had a game-high 26 points and 13 rebounds for Wingate. Keith Griffin scored 24 points on 12-for-14 shooting and collected a game-high 15 rebounds. Zeriq Lolar poured in 20 points and notched 14 boards.
Newberry will host Carson-Newman (4-3, 1-0 SAC) on Saturday from Eleazer Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.