BREVARD, N.C. - An early flurry of Wingate points and a tremendous three-point shooting performance for the Bulldogs proved too much for Brevard to overcome in a 90-76 loss in the team's final game before an 11-day break centered on the Christmas holiday.

Anthanee Doyle led the charge for Wingate (7-2, 3-2 SAC), scoring a game-high 28 points on 7-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs, who entered the game ranked fifth in the Southeast Region, connected on 59.1 percent of their 22 attempts from distance.

Miles Leathers reached a pair of significant career milestones during the game, taking over the career lead in both assists and steals since Brevard (2-8, 1-4 SAC) moved to the NCAA ranks prior to the 2008-09 season. Leathers now has 206 assists and 134 steals in his illustrious career and needs just four points to become the fourth NCAA-era Tornado to top the 1,000-point barrier.

Demarcus Threatt led the Tornados in scoring for the fifth straight game with 18 points and contributed a game-high four assists. Leathers poured in 11 while Omar El Diraoui's 10 points represented his best statistical performance since Nov. 17. Evan Dunham chipped in nine of Brevard's 23 bench points to set a new career high. The Tornados held a 32-30 advantage in points in the paint but surrendered 22 second-chance points on 11 offensive rebounds.

Freshman guard Mike Baez had the most complete performance of any Bulldog, notching 12 points and snatching 12 rebounds to go with four assists and a steal. Zeriq Lolar contributed 15 points off the bench, while Xavier Griffin's 10 points gave Wingate four players in double figures.

Brevard jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game on an El Diraoui three-point basket and a pair of free throws from Threatt. The Bulldogs countered with a Baez layup and a three-point play from Xavier Griffin to tie the game over the next 90 seconds before stretching their run to 16 straight points on 6-for-8 shooting in a 4:08 span.

The Bulldogs continued to stretch their advantage throughout the remainder of the half, building a 39-18 cushion at the 7:22 mark on one of Doyle's three-point field goals. Brevard fought valiantly throughout the rest of the contest, outscored by just two points while shooting 16-for-28 (57.1 percent) in the second half, but was unable to trim the gap below 11 points.

Wingate avoided the distinction of becoming the sixth South Atlantic Conference team to lose at least three straight games to Brevard after the Tornados swept the season series last year by a total of five points. The Bulldogs have now won four of their last five games and hold a 7-3 all-time advantage in Brevard.

After an 11-day hiatus, the Tornados will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 31 against No. 23 Kentucky Wesleyan. Tipoff from the Owensboro Sportscenter is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

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Featured image courtesy of Tommy Moss.