NEWARK, Del. - - The 2023-24 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Men's Basketball Tournament begins on Tuesday with a First-Round contest between the Wilmington University men's basketball team and Post University at the Drubner Center in Waterbury, Conn.
The Wildcats (16-12, 9-7 CACC) earned the South Division's number three seed, marking it the seventh straight year in which the Wildcats earned a CACC Tournament berth, and the eighth time in the last nine playing seasons under head coach Dan Burke. Post closed out the season as the North Division No. 2 seed, going 19-8 on the year and 10-6 in the CACC.
The CACC Tournament First Round games will be held at the higher seed, while the advancing teams will head to Caldwell for the remainder of the CACC Tournament.
Links to Follow the CACC Quarterfinals:
Live Stats: https://posteagles.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Live Stream: https://caccnetwork.com/post/
CACC Tournament Central: https://www.caccathletics.org/sports/Championship/2023-24/MBB
Admission to the 2024 CACC Men's Basketball Tournament:
Adults - $10.00
Seniors - $5.00
Students (with valid ID) - $5.00
Children under 3 – Free
Scouting the South No. 3 Wilmington University Wildcats:
After battling through a 1-6 stretch with the first game against Goldey-Beacom for first place in the South Division, the Wildcats come into the CACC Tournament as one of the hotter teams in the conference, winners of four straight and scoring 92 or more points in all four games. Only Jefferson (8-0) is on a longer winning streak heading into the playoffs.
Amiri Stewart has jumped into third in scoring in the CACC, now averaging 17.4 points per game after scoring 20 or more points in 10 of the final 12 games of the season. He is also eighth overall in shooting 54.0 percent from the floor and fifth best in three-point efficiency in shooting 44.2 percent from deep. He has the second most free throws, the fourth most steals, and the sixth most assists in the league.
Taalib Holloman is ninth in the league in scoring 15.1 points per game, scoring 20 or more in the final three games of the season. Caleb Matthews is 41st in the CACC in scoring 10.3 points per game but is sixth in the league with a 2.1 assist to turnover ratio, ranking 10th in the CACC with 89 assists. Nalik Veasley is sixth in the CACC in grabbing 8.0 rebounds a game and second overall (and 21st in the country) in averaging 1.79 blocks per game.
As a team, the Wildcats are the sixth best team in the country in defending the three-point arc, only allowing opponents to shoot 29.3 percent from deep. As a whole, they are second in the CACC and 50th in the NCAA DII in having opponents only shoot 42.2 percent from the floor. They are also 10th in the country in dishing out 17.9 assists per game. On offense, the Wildcats are 3rd in the CACC in shooting 46.5 percent from the floor.
On the other side of that, Post is shooting the three-ball at a 32.6 percent clip on the year. Defensively, Post is third in the CACC in allowing opponents shoot 43.7 percent from the floor.
All-Time Series vs. Post:
Tuesday will be the 25th meeting between the two programs since the Wildcats joined the NCAA ranks for the 2004-05 season. It will also be the third time the Wildcats and Eagles have met in the First Round of the CACC Tournament, all since the 2019-20 season. Post holds a 16-8 all-time lead over the Wildcats, but the two teams are 1-1 in postseason play against each other.
The last time the Wildcats beat the Eagles was in the 2020 CACC Tournament when they traveled to Waterbury, Connecticut, as the South Division's No. 3 seed and took down the North Division's No. 2 seed, 76-69, to advance to the Semifinals. The Eagles evened the postseason season in the 2022 CACC Tournament, an 100-89 victory in Waterbury as the North Division's No. 1 seed.
The two teams met on February 10 and the Wildcats had the lead for 33:30 minutes and as large as an 11-point lead with 5:08 to play stormed back and eventually tied the game at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime. The Eagles also came back from a six-point deficit in the overtime period to steal a victory away from Wilmington.
Taalib Holloman led the Wildcats with 22 points, four rebounds, and three assists, while Amiri Stewart had 20 points and six rebounds. Caleb Matthews also scored in double figures with 11 points, five assists, and three rebounds.
Post was led by Bol Akot's 19-points, scoring 13 of them fro the foul line. Deng Deang had 17 points and 11 rebounds but took 17 shots to get there. Harrison Warnock also scored 17 points while TaQuan Williams came off the bench to score 11 points.
Wilmington In the CACC Tournament:
2009-10 (0-1): S#2 Goldey-Beacom 79 – S#3 Wilmington 71
2014-15 (2-1): S#4 Wilmington 69 – N#1 Dominican 67; S#4 Wilmington 75 – S#2 Holy Family 71; S#1 Philadelphia 77 – S#4 Wilmington 68
2016-17 (0-1): N#3 Caldwell 81 – S#2 Wilmington 74
2017-18 (0-1): N#2 Dominican 86 – S#3 Wilmington 57
2018-19 (0-1): N#1 Bloomfield 105 – S#4 Wilmington 86
2019-20(1-1): S#3 Wilmington 76- N#2 Post 69; S#1 Jefferson 100- S#3 Wilmington 61
2020-21 (DNP – COVID-19 Pandemic)
2021-22 (0-1): N#1 Post 100 – S#4 Wilmington 89
2022-23 (0-1): N#1 Caldwell 86 – S#4 Wilmington 77
Overall: 3-8
Season Series and All-Time vs. CACC Tournament Participants:
North Division:
#1 Bloomfield College: 2023-24 – at L 78-70; All-Time – 5-18; CACC Tournament – 0-1
#2 Post University: 2023-24 – at L 80-78 (OT); All-Time – 8-16; CACC Tournament 1-1
#3 Dominican University: 2023-24 – vs. W 99-95; All-Time – 7-17; CACC Tournament – 1-1
#4 Felician University: 2023-24 – vs. W 95-90; All-Time – 7-15; CACC Tournament – 0-0
South Division:
#1 Jefferson University: 2023-24 – at W 80-63, vs. L 96-88; All-Time – 8-30; CACC Tournament – 0-2
#2 Goldey-Beacom College: 2023-24 – vs. L 83-78, at W 99-91; All-Time – 12-27; CACC Tournament – 0-1
#3 Wilmington University
#4 Chestnut Hill College: 2023-24 – vs. W 76-69, at L 60-59; All-Time – 19-13; CACC Tournament – 0-0
2023-24 CACC Men's Basketball Tournament Schedule:
First Round (Tuesday, March 5)
S#4 Chestnut Hill at N#1 Bloomfield (6 p.m.)
N#3 Dominican at S#2 Goldey-Beacom (6 p.m.)
N#4 Felician at S#1 Jefferson (5:30 p.m.)
S#3 Wilmington at N#2 Post (5:30 p.m.)
Semifinals (Saturday, March 9, Newman Center, at Caldwell University)
Bloom/CHC Winner vs. GBC/Dominican Winner (12 or 2 p.m.)
Jeff/Felician Winner vs. Post/WilmU Winner (12 or 2 p.m.)
* - Highest remaining seed will play in the day's first semifinal
Championship Final (Sunday, March 10, Newman Center, at Caldwell University)
Semifinal #1 Winner vs. Semifinal #2 Winner (12:00 p.m.)