Press Release Written by Nathan Foltz
PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. - - After finding themselves in another early hole, the Wilmington University men's basketball team mounted a successful second-half comeback to defeat Pace University, 78-71, on Saturday at the Goldstein Athletics Center in Pleasantville, New York.
The win pulls the Wildcats back to .500 at 5-5, with this being their second straight win following a five-game slump. Pace falls to 4-3 with their loss.
The first half scoring was fast and furious, with Pace building an early lead on the back of 10-13 three-point shooting across the first 20 minutes. Wilmington didn't have any answers for Paxton Davidson in particular, who drilled six threes in the first 14 minutes of the game, the final of which gave Pace a 34-24 lead that was the highest mark they would hold the rest of the way. Justin Perez responded with two three-pointers of his own, which kick-started a 16-7 run that got Wilmington back to within one point, but Pace banged another three to go into the half up, 44-40.
The two teams combined to shoot 16-25 (64.0%) from beyond the arc in the first half, with Jaylin Horsey making three and Akeem Taylor adding one to go along with the two Perez buried for Wilmington (6-12).
The Wildcats picked up where they left off to start the second half, opening on a 9-3 run that culminated in a Horsey three to tie and a Hawkins layup for the first Wilmington lead of the afternoon at 49-47. The Setters wouldn't take another lead the rest of the game, as Wilmington's defense clamped down and held them to only 27 second-half points. The three-point shooting cooled off significantly for both sides in the second half, as Wilmington shot 2-7 and Pace 2-10 in the final 20 minutes. The Wildcats couldn't cruise to a victory, though, as Pace hung around, bringing it to within two at 68-66 with 2:30 to play. Wilmington successfully ate clock to ice it, however, converting 2-of-3 from the field over the remainder of the contest while making all six of their free-throw attempts once Pace started fouling. Jaiden Guy scored six of those final ten points, making two free throws with a layup and a dunk, while Perez went to the line four times and was successful on each attempt.
Through ten games, Wilmington has been outscored by an average of 5.1 points in the first half before outscoring opponents by 7.2 in the second half. Pace came into today's game allowing the fifth fewest points per game in NCAA Division II.
As a team, Wilmington shot 22-23 from the charity stripe compared to just 3-9 for Pace. That 95.7% mark is the highest the Wildcats have had in a game this season.
Jaylin Horsey led the scoring for the Wildcats, with a season-high 21 points coming on five three-pointers and 7-13 from the field overall. Akeem Taylor had 15, Tre Hawkins had 14 while leading the team with six rebounds, and Justin Perez and Jaiden Guy each had 12 points. Denim Perkins once again led the team in assists, this time with five.
The Wildcats stay on the road for their next game, when they'll head up to Staten Island to face the Dolphins of CSI on Wednesday. That game is penciled in for a 7:00 PM tip.