NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University men's basketball team couldn't overcome a slow start on Saturday, as they lost to Felician, 77-76, in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference matchup at the WU Athletics Complex.
The loss is Wilmington's fifth in a row, with three coming against conference opponents to drop them to 3-5 on the year with a 0-3 record in conference play. Five of their eight games have been decided by three points or fewer (2-3 record in those games), with three of those games going to overtime.
The Wildcats scored first on a Tre Hawkins jumper, but that two-point lead would match the largest they'd hold all game. A 12-0 run by Felician that started three minutes into the contest set them up nicely for the rest of the half with a 15-5 lead, a lead that would extend to as much as 16 when the Golden Falcons went up 29-13 halfway through the first. The Wildcats did what they've done all season, though, battling back after allowing their opponents to go on a run. They scored 25 to Felician's 13 over the final ten before halftime to go into the break only trailing 42-38.
Wilmington finally tied it again three minutes into the second when Akeem Taylor made two free throws to tie it at 44. From there, the Wildcats let the Golden Falcons get a little bit of separation again, though this time they limited the damage to only a seven-point gap at 54-47 and later eight at 60-52. Taylor then put the team on his back, sinking a three-pointer, a layup, and two free throws for seven unanswered Wildcat points before, at the 9:28 mark, Jaiden Guy finally broke through with a fastbreak layup to give Wilmington its first lead since two minutes into the game.
The teams traded two-point leads over the next few minutes before Felician went up by five on a few separate occasions and then jumped out in front by as much as six, but Wilmington hung close. Taylor and Hawkins both made layups that brought it to 75-73 with 1:36 to play, and then, after a Felician jumper, Justin Perez drained a three that made it 77-76 in favor of the Golden Falcons. The Wildcats had the opportunity to pull out a win after CACC-leading scorer Jeremiah Anderson (25.4 PPG and 38-43 FTM-A after today's game) missed two free throws with 30 seconds left, but they couldn't get a look and called a timeout with eight seconds left. The ball was then tipped out by Felician with three seconds left, and after another timeout, tried an inbounds play to Hawkins, but he was heavily guarded, and his shot went off the side of the backboard to secure the victory for the visitors.
Tre Hawkins' stellar sophomore season continued, as he put in a team-high 22 points and 18 rebounds (second most in a game in program history) for his fifth double-double of the season. Akeem Taylor had 17 points, Justin Perez had 15, and Jaiden Guy contributed 12 off the bench. Denim Perkins only landed one of his eight field goal attempts for two points, but dished out 10 assists to match his career-high (12/3/24 vs. Georgian Court).
The Wildcats will next play host to cross-town rival Goldey-Beacom on Tuesday, with that game set to tip at approximately 8:00 p.m. following the women's game.
