Press Release written by Nathan Foltz
NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University men's basketball team fell to California (Pa.) in overtime on Saturday afternoon, as they were on the wrong end of an 84-77 final score at the WU Athletics Complex.
Through six games this season, the Wildcats are now 3-3 and on a three-game skid following a three-game winning streak to start the year. Four of their games have reached at least one overtime.
The first half was fast and closely contested. The Vulcans went up by five on a dunk at the 14:56 mark, but Wilmington scored five in a row to even it back up at 14-14. The Cats couldn't get back on top for another ten minutes, though, finally getting over the top when Denim Perkins laid one in to put his team up 27-25. That score came in the middle of an 11-0 run for Wilmington, which the Wildcats used to build a 31-25 lead with three to go before the break. They couldn't extend the lead from there, yielding a few points to Cal to make it a 35-33 Wilmington lead at halftime.
The Vulcans didn't let the Wildcats pull away coming out of the half, staying within reach by responding to just about every Wilmington basket with one of their own. The largest Wildcat lead of the afternoon came with 6:39 remaining in the game when Hiram Alexander made two free throws to make it 61-51, but Cal quickly closed the gap with a 10-3 run. Tre Hawkins made a free throw with 14 seconds left on the clock to make it 67-65 in favor of Wilmington, but he missed his second shot, giving Cal an opportunity to make a game-winning shot. Instead, they managed to draw a foul, allowing them to make two free throws and even the game up at 67 with five seconds to go. Perkins missed what would've been a game-ending layup with a second left, and the Wildcats yet again got ready to play overtime.
Wilmington built a modest three-point lead to start OT with an Alexander layup and a Jaylin Horsey three, but the Vulcans responded with their own three to even the score at 72. Hawkins then put the Wildcats up by two with another pair from the charity stripe, but it was all Cal the rest of the way, as Wilmington only scored three more points in the final 2:41 of the period, all on free throws. Wilmington took three shots in that span, all from three-point distance.
Tre Hawkins led the box score for Wilmington, scoring 25 points and adding 13 rebounds and three assists to pick up another double-double. Jaylin Horsey had 15 points, going 4-9 from beyond the arc. Akeem Taylor was the only other Wildcat with double-digit points, scoring 13 on the day while adding four steals. Denim Perkins contributed six assists to go along with his six points. As a team, Wilmington only made 19 of their 31 free throws (61.3%) compared to 18-24 for Cal. The team mark was 14-24 (58.3%) in regulation.
Wilmington is away next as they try to get off their losing streak, when they'll go up to Philadelphia for a midweek conference matchup with Jefferson. That game is scheduled to tip off at approximately 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday.