AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Sean Barnette’s layup with 19 seconds left and Shaun Kirkland’s blocked shot as time expired propelled the Wingate Bulldogs into the championship game of the NCAA South Atlantic regional 79-78 over the top-seeded Augusta State Jaguars on Sunday in Augusta. The Bulldogs, the #5 seed in the regional, improve to 24-8 on the year and knock out the top seed and host Augusta State, whose season comes to a close with a 24-7 record.

Wingate jumped out to an 11-2 lead in less than two minutes to begin the game, capped by a three-pointer by Justin Baker. The Bulldogs would increase that lead to as many as 14 at the 13:33 mark following another three from Sean Barnette. The Bulldogs shot 51 percent from the field and hit half of their three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.

Down 11 with under 10 minutes to go in the first, the Jaguars began their comeback with a 12-2 run over the next thee minutes to trim the lead to three. ASU’s Garrett Siler scored six of those points during the stretch and hit two more layups two minutes later to give ASU a three-point lead, their largest of the half. But Wingate went on a 12-5 run over the final three minutes, five of those points from Barnette who had 16 in the half, to take a 46-42 lead into intermission.

The scoring barrage cooled in the second half. Wingate opened up a 52-47 lead in the opening moments of the period following a jumper from Justin Baker. The Bulldogs would maintain a three-point cushion for the first 10 minutes of the half until Siler gave Augusta State their first lead 61-58 following a putback in which he was fouled. Augusta State was without the services of AJ Bowman for the majority of the half as he picked up his fourth foul at the 12:11 mark.

A three-pointer from Barnette tied the game again at 63 with eight minutes to play. Augusta State scored 10 of the next 13 points, all of them from Siler and Ben Madgen, until Barnette hit another three and a layup to cut the lead to two 73-71 with 3:14 to go. Wingate tied the game back up on Smith’s layup seconds later and ASU’s Bowman picked up his fifth foul on the ensuing possession.

ASU took a one-point lead with 1:13 to play following a Siler free throw, but Barnette had the answer with a layup for Wingate. Down one, the Jaguars looked to Siler again, whose turnaround hook with 33 seconds to play put ASU back up one 78-77.

Barnette finished the game with 28 points and 12 rebounds, both team highs. The Bulldogs shot 53.7 percent from the field and hit nine of 21 three-pointers. Baker finished with 19 while Bryan Grier added 14 and six blocked shots. Kirkland had 10 points to go with his two blocks.

Siler turned in a career-high 28 points with 10 rebounds to lead the Jaguars. Madgen had 20 while Bowman added 12 in only 21 minutes. The Jaguars struggled from long range, hitting only four of 23 three-point attempts.

Wingate advances to face second-seeded Virginia Union in the regional championship game on Tuesday, March 13, at 7 p.m. in Augusta. (BOX SCORE) (Photos)

Quotes:

Wingate Head Coach Parker Laketa:
 “We spoiled the party. It sure feels good. This is what you want your guys to play in: big games in March. To watch them perform like they did makes you really proud of them. Shaun (Kirkland) has been doing it all year long.”

On not holding for the final shot:
 “The only way I’m going to do that is if I have a lead. But when you’re down or its even, you just gotta play, and that’s what we did. We’re not going to call time outs and set things up, we push the ball at them. I don’t want to allow them to get their defense set. We pushed it at them, and our guys have the ability to make plays, which is exactly what they did. Made plays to win the game.”

On facing Virginia Union:
 “Its a storied program. Its gonna be a terrific game. We played them in the NCAA Tournamet last year and lost at their place, so there is some familiarity. I anticipate a great game.”

Wingate’s Shaun Kirkland On last-second shot block:
 “I knew he was one of their big time players, so I just wanted to find the ball as much as possible and make the shot tough for him. I was hoping I would find him, and when he took the shot, I got a hand on it.”

Wingate’s Sean Barnette On playing for the championship:
 “It means so much to me, my teammates. It something that every team works for. Its a blessing to be here right now.”

“We’re on their home floor. We knew they would make runs and go up. When you’re playing at home and the crowd is in it, its going to give the team a lot of momentum. So, we knew just to keep our head up and keep going hard.”

Augusta State Head Coach Dip Metress:
 “The guy we wanted to have the ball had fouled out of the game. But I will not apologize for our team’s effort. I will not because they played their butts off. I’m proud of them for that.”

“You know, late games like that...you got to make a play. Their guy did.”

“I told the guys that we just want to be in this very same situation next year. We will learn from our experience. Its sad to come out on the wrong end, but we won 24 games this year. But we lost to a pretty good basketball team today.”