ORANGEBURG, N.Y. - - Powered by a big scoring day from Tre Hawkins, the Wilmington University men's basketball team got back into the win column with an 86-83 victory over Dominican University of New York at the Hennessy Center on Saturday in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference showdown.
The win gives the Wildcats their second 'W' in conference play on the year while bumping their overall record to 6-8. The Chargers, meanwhile, extend their losing streak to four games, though their loss to Wilmington was their first of the stretch to a CACC opponent, with their in-conference mark now sitting at 3-2.
Wilmington jumped ahead 7-0 to start the contest and held that lead most of the first half, building the gap to as much as ten at one point. Dominican patched together a run after the Wildcats scored their 24th point, however, outscoring Wilmington 12-4 over the next couple of minutes to take a 29-28 lead with seven minutes left before the break. Wilmington hung tight for a few possessions, but Dominican closed out the half strong to go up 50-40.
The Chargers kept that momentum into the start of the second half as well, maintaining a nine-point lead after five minutes. Wilmington was able to finally answer back after that, though, putting together a 9-2 run that made it 64-62, but the scoreboard still favored Dominican. The Charger lead grew to eight again, but Denim Perkins and Jaiden Guy combined for six unanswered to bring it back to two with 7:44 to play. The Wildcats finally broke through at the 2:19 mark when Guy drove into the lane and put in a tough layup, making the 79-78 lead their first in almost 25 minutes. Dominican responded with a layup of their own to go back on top, then Jaylin Horsey took the lead back on the fifth of his five three-pointers on the afternoon. Perkins fouled to prevent a fastbreak basket off a steal. Both of those free throws were made to give the Chargers a one-point edge with 29 seconds left, but then at the other end, after Horsey missed the would-be go-ahead three, Akeem Taylor picked up a big offensive rebound to set Tre Hawkins up to putback his own miss. Now down 84-83, Dominican scrambled back down the court to try and score, but Guy stripped the ball away and made both foul shots after the Chargers fouled him. The subsequent Dominican Hail Mary attempt failed, and the Wildcats walked away with a hard-earned win.
Tre Hawkins got back on track after a few down games, scoring a career-high-tying 30 points (2/5/25 at Georgian Court) along with his nine rebounds, two steals, and one assist. Jaylin Horsey shot 5-7 from beyond the arc to help him to 19 points while leading the team with four steals. Zavion Bianchini got his first career start and scored 12 points to pair with eight rebounds. Jaiden Guy also had double-digit points with 17, and while Denim Perkins only shot 2-4 from the field for four points, he had his second-most assists of the season with eight.
Next up for Wilmington is a home date with Chestnut Hill, which is scheduled for Tuesday night at approximately 8:00 P.M. That game will start about half an hour after the conclusion of the women's contest at the WU Athletics Complex.