The Wilmington University men's basketball team battled back throughout the second half, but a fast start and large halftime lead led Holy Family to an 88-63 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division victory at the WU Athletics Complex on Thursday night.
The Tigers (14-5, 8-2 CACC) jumped out to a fast 9-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game and took a 18-point lead into the halftime break before running away late for their fourth win in their last five contests overall.
The Wildcats (4-15, 3-7 CACC) started the second half on a 14-2 run to get to within six points early in the stanza, but the Tigers were able to hold off the Wildcats down the stretch. The Tigers pulled away late, hitting their final 10 free throws of the match.
Holy Family started the game with a three-pointer and capped a 9-0 run with another three-pointer with 16:11 to play in the first half. The Tigers took their first double-digit lead of the half with 10:28 to play and grabbing a 29-13 lead on the strength of a Marvin Crawford fastbreak dunk with 3:44 remaining before the break.
Reggie Charles sent the Tigers into the halftime break with a layup with 59 second to play, giving the visitors an 18-point lead.
A three-point play by Kevin Ohen right out of the gates in the second half sparked the Wildcats to a 5-0 run in the first 1:30 and got the deficit under double digits on the first of two free throws by Tyaire Ponzo-Meek with 16:02 to play. Tyrik Gass stole an offensive rebound away and layup it home to bring the Wildcats to within six, 38-32, with 15:43 to play, bringing the bench to its feet.
The Wildcats hung around for a moment as an Ohen three-pointer brought the Wildcats back to within seven at 43-36 with 14:36 remaining. But the Tigers used a 9-0 run to expand the lead back out to 16 points in a span of 2:10. It would be a run the Wildcats couldn't recover from.
The Tigers kept the lead in double figures for the rest of the contest, as the Wildcats could only get as close as 11 points the rest of the way.
Holy Family shot 15-of-30 from the field in the second half while also hitting 19-of-23 from the foul line to keep the Wildcats at bay. The Tigers shot 44.4 percent from the floor for the game.
The Wildcats went 8-of-33 from the floor in the first half, including 0-for-8 from beyond the three-point line before shooting 15-of-32 from the floor in the second half. The Wildcats hit five three-pointers in the second half, finishing the game shooting at a 35.4 percent clip from the floor.
Ohen led four Wildcats in double digits with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Ponzo-Meek and Sanders scored 12 points while Gass finished with 10. Ponzo-Meek led the Wildcat with nine rebounds while Valentino Thompson added four assists.
The Wildcats remain home for their next CACC doubleheader, being played on Saturday at the WU Athletics Complex. The Wildcats welcome North Division foe Nyack to Newark with the men tipping off at 3 p.m.