Rock Hill, S.C.----Wingate University freshman center Odell Turner (Charlotte, N.C.) is the 2010 South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball Freshman of the Year, league officials announced Friday. The SAC men’s basketball award winners will be recognized Saturday at the Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Complex, site of the 2010 Food Lion SAC tournament final four.

Four Bulldogs receive honors from the league this year. Sophomore guard Jaime Vaughn (McDonough, Ga.) is an All-SAC second team performer. Vaughn was a SAC All-Freshman team pick in 2009. Turner headlines the All-Freshman team with classmates Quan Alexander (Charlotte, N.C.) and Paidrick Matilus (Boynton Beach, Fla.). Turner and Alexander were teammates at Charlotte’s Myers Park High School before joining the Bulldog family in 2009.

Turner led the Bulldogs in scoring (12.1 points per game), rebounding (7.0 boards per game) and blocked shots (1.36 rejections per contest). On the SAC charts, Turner was the top freshman scorer in the league. He is listed in the top 15 in scoring (14th), rebounding (fifth), field goal percentage (13th, 49.0 percent) and blocked shots (seventh).

One of three Bulldogs to start every game this season, Turner also led the team in double-doubles (points, rebounds) with three. Wingate was 3-0 when Turner posted a daily double. He had 15 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in an 85-62 SAC victory over Mars Hill Feb. 17. Turner also recorded double-doubles in regional victories over Mount Olive and Georgia College. He had a career-high 22 points at Catawba Jan. 6.

Vaughn belongs in the top 10 in three league statistical categories. He is third in three-point field goal percentage (43.7 percent), fourth in free throw percentage (81.2 percent) and eighth in three-point field goals made per game (1.86). The Eagle’s Landing (Ga.) High School product led the Bulldogs in each of the aforementioned categories. He is second on the team (and 15th in the SAC) with his 11.7 points per game average.

In SAC games, Vaughn was the top Wingate player with his 12.2 points per game contribution. Vaughn shot better from the floor (48.1 percent to 45.1 percent) and from three-point land (49.3 percent to 43.7 percent) in league contests. He topped the 20-plateau five times this season. Vaughn collected a career-high 26 points in a home contest against Tusculum Jan. 23.

Alexander contributed 10.7 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game to the Bulldog cause this season. His rebounding total was second on the team charts. Alexander is 14th in the SAC in rebounding and field goal percentage (48.8 percent).

In SAC play, Alexander elevated both his field goal percentage (52.6 percent) and his free throw percentage (80.3 percent to 73.8 percent). He will remember his first-ever college game, as he scored a career-high 21 points as the Bulldogs defeated visiting Armstrong Atlantic State 94-77 Nov. 15. Alexander hit double-figure points 15 times this season. Alexander joins Turner and Vaughn as the only Bulldogs to start all 28 games this year.

Matilus posted the top scoring effort for Bulldogs this season, pouring in a career-high 27 points as Wingate defeated visiting Belmont Abbey 73-71 Nov. 28. Matilus contributed 11.6 points per game this season, third on the team charts to Turner and Vaughn.

The Grandview Prep product was Wingate’s number two long-range threat, as he swished 39 three-point field goals this season. Matilus was also second to Vaughn in three-point field goal percentage rate, converting 35.8 percent of his shots from downtown.

Matilus hit double-figure points 17 times this season, including Wingate’s final eight games of the season. His eight-game double figure scoring streak is the longest active streak for players who will return in 2010-11. Matilus’ top SAC scoring output was Feb. 24, when he hit 19 points at Lenoir-Rhyne. 

Tusculum College senior guard Kyle Moore is the 2009-10 South Atlantic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, the league announced today. Moore wins the award for the second year in a row. 

For the second year in a row, Moore led the conference with 112 made three-pointers. He breaks his previous league record with the 112 triples. Moore finishes his career as the SAC’s all-time leader in made three-pointers with 306. His 2009-10 league-leading scoring average of 24.9 points per game ranks second nationally and ranks second in SAC history. 

Joining Moore on the men’s All-SAC first team are Jonathan Whitson (Brevard), Antonio Houston (Catawba), D.J. Blackmon (Lenoir-Rhyne), D’Mario Curry (Lincoln Memorial) and Danny Sanders (Mars Hill). 

In addition to Vaughn, the men’s All-SAC second team includes Josh Roper (Brevard), Jordan Dixon (Carson-Newman), Rob Fields (Catawba), Donald Rutherford (Catawba) and Stoney Polite (Mars Hill). 

Catawba freshman Stephen Coles and Newberry freshman Ryan Barnes join the Wingate trio on the SAC All-Freshman team. Brevard’s Michael Jones, who guided the Tornados from a ninth-place finish last season to a second-place finish this year, was named the men’s Coach of the Year. Mars Hill’s Jarred Pickering was named SAC Scholar-Athlete for men’s basketball. 

The 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men’s and women’s basketball semi-finals are Saturday at the Catawba Valley Community College Multipurpose Complex in Hickory, N.C. The men’s award winners will be recognized after the first contest between Catawba and Lincoln Memorial on Saturday. 

(Special thanks to Dennis Switzer for contributing information to this article. Switzer is the Director of Sports Administration and Information with the South Atlantic Conference.)

SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE POST-SEASON AWARD WINNERS
MEN’S TEAMS

ALL-SAC FIRST TEAM
D.J. Blackmon, Lenoir-Rhyne
D’Mario Curry, Lincoln Memorial
Antonio Houston, Catawba
Kyle Moore, Tusculum 
Danny Sanders, Mars Hill
Jonathan Whitson, Brevard

ALL-SAC SECOND TEAM
Jordan Dixon, Carson-Newman
Rob Fields, Catawba 
Stoney Polite, Mars Hill
Josh Roper, Brevard
Donald Rutherford, Catawba
Jaime Vaughn, Wingate

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Quan Alexander, Wingate
Ryan Barnes, Newberry
Stephen Coles, Catawba
Paidrick Matilus, Wingate
Odell Turner, Wingate

COACH OF THE YEAR: Mike Jones, Brevard
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kyle Moore, Tusculum
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Odell Turner, Wingate
SAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: Jarred Pickering, Mars Hill

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution of 2,159 students offering active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, world travel, career discovery and community service.

Wingate offers more than 40 undergraduate majors in arts and sciences, business, communication, education, fine arts, music and sport sciences. It also offers graduate degrees in business, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration. In addition, the school awards the doctor of pharmacy and the doctor of education degrees.

Bulldog student-athletes compete in 19 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past three years.

Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 34 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 43 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.