AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Fifth-seeded Wingate outscored second-seeded Virginia Union 48-21 in the second half to capture the NCAA South Atlantic Regional Championship 73-56 Tuesday night in Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Shaun Kirkland and Sean Barnette each posted double-doubles for the Bulldogs, who are bound for the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass., March 21-24. Kirkland had a monster game, pouring in 27 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, including nine offensive boards. Barnette booked 20 points and 13 rebounds of his own. Bryan Grier notched six points, seven rebounds and eight blocked shots.

Virginia Union, seeking its third straight trip to the Elite Eight, was paced by Chris Greene’s 17 points. Lakeith Blanks added 12 off the bench and Brad Byerson chipped in 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Panthers controlled the first half, taking a 35-25 lead into halftime while shooting 50 percent from the field and holding Wingate to just 26.3 percent shooting. But the tables turned in the second half.

Virginia Union actually increased its lead to as much as 13 on a Jason Wansley layup, moving out in front 43-30 at the 14:24 mark of the second half. Then the Bulldogs caught fire, erasing their deficit with a remarkable 22-0 over a span of only 5:28 that Justin Baker capped with a three-pointer. Blanks hit a pair of free throws to stem the tide before Wingate answered with another Baker trey and consecutive baskets by Kirkland.

The Bulldogs’ lead never dipped under 11 the rest of the way, and Barnette drilled a trey with 26 seconds remaining to give them their largest lead of the game at 73-53.

Wingate shot 58.8 percent in the second half, while Virginia Union managed only six field goals after the half and didn’t connect on a three-pointer, shooting just 26.1 percent. The Bulldogs also outrebounded the Panthers 49-34 and blocked 12 shots.

With the victory, Wingate is the first men’s basketball team from the South Atlantic Conference to advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. Prior to 2007, only three other SAC men’s basketball teams (Catawba in 1998, Carson-Newman in 2002 and  Presbyterian in 2003) have advanced as far as the Sweet 16.

Kirkland and Barnette were each named to the South Atlantic Regional All-Tournament team, with Kirkland winning Most Outstanding Player honors. Greene and Byerson represented Virginia Union on the squad, which also included Augusta State’s Tyrekus “AJ” Bowman.

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Quotes:

Virginia Union Head Coach Dave Robbins:
“The best team definitely won tonight and should advance. I thought we played well early, and then I really thought the crowd was their sixth man on the floor. It was very physical.”

“It is very obvious that when a team has got good guards it is tough for us to get into our offense.”

“They ran us out of our offense, we couldn’t get into it and we don’t have good enough guards to be able to handle that. But you have to go with what you got.”

“They just have a terrific team. I told our guys that unless we played a super game, we got no chance of beating them. And that proved to be the case. We played well early but we got tired and we got in foul trouble.”

Virginia Union’s Chris Greene:
“They were hungrier; they wanted it more than we did. They went to the boards. They just wanted the ball more.”

“I was just hoping we could get into the offense and make some kind of run just to quiet the crowd down. But I never thought for a minute that we were going to lose, I always thought we were going to win until the buzzer sounded.”

Wingate head coach Parker Laketa:
“We did it. Nobody expected us to do it, but we did it. We shifted the focus. It took a tremendous effort but we shifted the focus from the Augusta State’s and Virginia Union’s onto us.”

“Shaun Kirkland...he showed people who don’t know him very well that he’s got a big heart. Probably the most heart of anyone I’ve ever coached.”

“I can’t put into words how proud I am of this team and how happy I am, not only for the team but for Wingate University and the Wingate community. These guys have taken me on the ride of my career.”

“That run, that 22-0, I’ve never seen anything like that. And we weren’t pressing. We were playing half-court defense and we went on a run like that, it was something.”

“We made a shift at about the 15 minute mark of the first half, where Brian Greer was running the baseline and instead we told him to go in and post up and be more aggressive. That changed things. We also got the ball to the middle of the floor to Sean (Barnette) and they didn’t have an answer for that.”

Wingate’s Shaun Kirkland:
“I told the team at halftime that the shots were going to come. We had open looks, but the shots were not going down. But we looked at the scoreboard at halftime and we were only down 10. We’re still in this. In the second half we pounded it down inside and that opened up the outside game. We just needed to play defense, to play hard and things worked out.”

“To me personally, rebounding is all heart. I want it more than he wants it. That’s how we go into every game because we play a small lineup, so we know we’ll be undersized. We go to the glass with heart.”

Wingate’s Sean Barnette:
“Going into the hole, I knew that I would draw a lot of attention. We got away from that in the first half, we put up a lot of threes. At the half, we decided to work from the inside out and that was the key.”