Press Release written by Nathan Foltz
WASHINGTON, D.C. - - The Wilmington University men's basketball team prevailed in a wild one, defeating D'Youville University, 84-83, in overtime on the campus of the University of the District of Columbia, thanks to some clutch free throws by Akeem Taylor.
With the win, the Wildcats move to 2-0 to start the year, marking the first time they've done so since they started 3-0 in 2016-17.
The game started off with a technical foul on D'Youville, allowing Jaylin Horsey to put the Wildcats up 1-0 with a free throw before the opening tip. The Saints scored nine straight out of the gate before Wilmington clawed back to tie it at 14-14, setting an expectation early that no lead would be safe for long. The Wildcats hung with the Saints but couldn't quite push themselves back out in front until Tre Hawkins hit a three with 4:39 in the first, giving them their first lead since 1-0 at 30-28. It was 38-38 heading into the break, setting up what would be an exciting second half of action.
Neither squad could get more than three points of separation coming out of halftime until Jaiden Guy made two free throws to give the Wildcats a four-point edge eight minutes in. D'Youville kept close, tying things back up at 60 with 6:42 to play, but Wilmington went on to build an eight-point lead by the time there were two minutes left on the clock. The Wildcat defense wavered, though, and the Saints charged back with eight unanswered points (four on free throws) to tie the game again, this time at 75, and with only four seconds left, Wilmington was unable to prevent overtime.
The Saints scored seven of the first eight overtime points, with the lone Wildcat tally coming thanks to a Denim Perkins free throw. This time, it was the D'Youville defense's turn to falter, as Justin Perez hit a three and Hawkins buried two free throws to make it a one-point game. With ten seconds left, the Wildcats had to foul, and it worked in their favor as the Saints only made one of their two from the line. That made it 83-81, and with Wilmington playing for a desperation three, Taylor was fouled behind the line in the corner. He proceeded to sink all three with 0.3 seconds left on the clock, locking down a hard-earned victory for his team.
Five Wildcats tallied double-digit points, led by Tre Hawkins' double-double of 19 points and 16 rebounds. Perkins followed with 17 points, Guy and Perez had 15, and Horsey had 10. Perkins also led the team in assists (6) and steals (5), while Guy was just shy of his own double-double, finishing second on the team with nine boards.
Wilmington will head home for its next game, where it will face off against Millersville on Wednesday. Opening tip is scheduled for approximately 7:00 p.m. following the women's contest at the WU Athletics Complex.