Press Release written by Nathan Foltz
CALDWELL, N.J. - - The Wilmington University men's basketball team suffered a slow, painful defeat to Caldwell University on Friday, falling by a final score of 80-65 in northern New Jersey in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference matchup.
Wilmington is 2-7 in their last nine games after starting the season 3-0, putting their overall record at 5-7 with a 1-4 mark in CACC play. Caldwell improves to 3-8 overall and 2-3 in the conference. Friday was the Wildcats lowest scoring game of the season.
Wilmington led for a total of 16 seconds in the contest, which occurred after Akeem Taylor drained a shot on the Wildcats' first possession of the game. It was all Caldwell from there, as the Cougars forced 15 Wildcat turnovers across the first 20 minutes of play. Wilmington pulled within five on a Jaiden Guy layup with 3:17 remaining in the first, but Caldwell closed the half on an 8-3 run to go into the locker room up 38-28.
Caldwell had the first two scores of the second half, but the Wildcats had opportunities as it took two minutes for either team to update their point total. Wilmington showed the most life they had all night over the next two minutes with a quick-hitting 12-3 run that brought them to within five at 45-40, and then inched a bit closer a few minutes later at 54-50. The Wildcats fell behind again before making up the ground they lost, with Justin Perez draining a three with 5:45 to go to scratch back to another four-point deficit. The Cougars closed out strong, though, allowing only six Wildcats points the rest of the game, four of which came on free throws.
The 21 Wildcat turnovers (compared to ten for Caldwell) were well above their season average of 14.6 and one fewer than the 22 they had in an overtime loss to Shippensburg. Caldwell capitalized on those giveaways to the tune of 22 points on the ensuing possessions. The Cougars shot a modest 6-20 (30.0%) from distance, but did most of their damage in the paint, securing 42 of their points from up close while holding Wilmington to only 16 points from the same spot on the floor.
Justin Perez was the only Wildcat to reach double-digit points, scoring 20 on 5-6 from the line and leading the team's 11-24 (45.8%) three-point shooting by going 5-11 from distance. Tre Hawkins, Akeem Taylor, and Jaylin Horsey all followed with nine points. Hawkins led the team in rebounds with six, Denim Perkins had three assists, and Jaiden Guy had three steals.
The Wildcats will have a chance to reset over their holiday break, with a week and a half off before their next game. When they do return to action, it'll be on New Year's Eve afternoon against Lincoln (Pa.) at the WU Athletics Complex. Tipoff is penciled in for 1:00 P.M.