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Press Release Written by Nathan Foltz
NEWARK, Del. - - Justin Perez's offensive explosion on Senior Night led the Wilmington University men's basketball team to a season-ending victory on Saturday, as they defeated Dominican, 90-81, at the WU Athletics Complex in the final Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest of the campaign.
The Wildcats finish the season on a positive note, as they finish 2025-26 with a 6-14 conference record and a 10-18 mark overall. Dominican's loss settles them into the sixth seed in the upcoming CACC Tournament, setting them up to travel to Philadelphia to take on the Jefferson Rams on Tuesday after finishing the regular season 10-10 against conference opponents and carrying a 13-15 record overall.
The first half was tight wire-to-wire, as neither team could generate more than a four-point lead. The Senior Night starters for Wilmington - Jordan Moore, Fidel Mpanzo, Hiram Alexander, and Justin Perez (along with junior Jaiden Guy) - more than held their own until the rest of the regular lineup got into the game, and then continued playing well throughout the contest as they swapped in and out with the regular starters. It was evident the team was playing loose, with several dunk attempts and fast-paced shooting pushing them to 38 first-half points, though Dominican one-upped the Wildcats to take the lead into halftime, 40-38.
Justin Perez, a senior out of West Warwick, Rhode Island, made himself the story of the game early on, draining four of his six three-point attempts in the first half on his way to 18 points in the first 20 minutes of play. He hit his fifth three of the night six minutes into the second half, a score that put the Wildcats back on top 52-50 after a back-and-forth first few minutes. The score was tied at 63 with 9:15 to go after a Charger layup, but Wilmington was finally able to get some separation from there, going on a 9-0 run to create a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Dominican got it back to within three with two minutes left at 84-81, but the Wildcat defense stepped up one last time to hold the Chargers scoreless over the final 120 seconds, with two free throws from Guy and four from Perez putting a lid on the game and the season.
As a team, the Wildcats shot 50.0% from three, going 12-24. They also made 29-58 (50.0%) from the field and 20-24 (83.3%) from the line while winning the rebounding battle 37-36, making for one of their most complete performances of the season against a team jockeying for playoff positioning.
Justin Perez led all scorers with his 33 points, going 6-11 from deep and 7-8 at the line. He also pulled down four rebounds and registered an assist in his final collegiate game. The rest of the seniors in the starting lineup played well too, as Jordan Moore reached 10 points with three rebounds, Hiram Alexander picked up nine points with a team-high seven rebounds and two steals, and Fidel Mpanzo scored five with three rebounds and two assists across 22 minutes, the most he's played as a Wildcat. Jaiden Guy was second on the team with 15 points, also pulling down five rebounds with four assists and three steals. Jaylin Horsey was strong off the bench, putting down 11 points with three three-pointers.
It is the first time the Wildcats have missed the CACC Tournament in the past eight seasons they've played and just the second time in head coach Dan Burke's 11 seasons at the helm.
