Press Release Written by Nathan Foltz
RUTHERFORD, N.J. - - The Wilmington University men's basketball team nearly pulled off a major upset against the conference's top team on Saturday but faltered in the end to fall to Felician by a final score of 72-68 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest at the JJJ Gymnasium.
Wilmington is now 8-13 on the year and 4-9 against CACC opponents, while Felician boosts its record to 17-3 with a 12-1 mark in conference play.
The Golden Falcons played with a lead for the first twelve and a half minutes of the contest before the Wildcats scored four straight to tie it at 17. Felician made a free throw to temporarily regain the lead, but then it was all Wilmington for the rest of the first half, as they closed out the final seven-plus minutes on a 22-8 run. The Wildcats were fueled by some shooting struggles by Felician, who went only 1-13 from three-point range as part of 11-34 (32.4%) shooting from the field. Wilmington, meanwhile, had their share of struggles from the free-throw line (7-12, 58.3%), but still went into the locker room up 39-26.
Felician was unfazed by the deficit, however, showing why they've led the CACC all season with a 12-1 run to start the second. Wilmington was able to keep just ahead of their opponent for about seven more minutes, but at the 9:36 timestamp, the Golden Falcons tied it at 52, then subsequently stole the ball from the Wildcats to drop in a lead-taking layup. Felician kept Wilmington at bay for a few minutes, but Jaiden Guy picked up a steal and dished it off to Denim Perkins, who banged a three that gave the visitors the lead back, 62-59. After a few score ties, Felician continued the back and forth with a jumper that retook the lead at 69-68 with 2:50 on the clock.
Unfortunately, the Wildcat offense went completely silent over the remainder of the game, going 0-4 on field goals and 0-2 from the line. The Golden Falcons only mustered three points of their own the rest of the way, but that was all they needed as they ate the clock and gave Wilmington few chances to close the gap.
Wilmington only scored 29 points to Felician's 46 in the second period while shooting 9-29 (31.0%) and 7-14 (50.0%) from the line. For the game, the Wildcats shot 24-61 (39.3%) with another lackluster effort on foul shots, making 14-26 (53.8%). Felician's 16.7% rate from beyond the arc (3-18) was their second-worst performance of the season, while their 60.0% mark (9-15) on foul shots was their fifth-worst.
Justin Perez was the Wildcat leader in points with 19. Jaiden Guy (15), Denim Perkins (11), and Tre Hawkins (10) also reached double-digits. Zavion Bianchini led the rebounding effort with seven boards, while Guy led the team in assists and steals with five and three, respectively.
The Wildcats have another road game lined up for early next week, though they won't have to travel very far. In-state rival Goldey-Beacom will play host to the second matchup between the two teams on Tuesday, where the Lightning will look for revenge after the Wildcats bested them 98-76 in December. That game is scheduled to start at approximately 8:00 P.M.