Video recap at bottom of press release.
NEWARK, Del. - - A blazing start and a prowess to hit the deep shot allowed the Wilmington University men's basketball to lead the entire way in a 92-68 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division victory over Georgian Court on Saturday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.
The Wildcats (9-6, 4-2 CACC) hit 12 three-pointers and scored the first 15 points of the game en route to the 24-point victory. The Lions (2-12, 2-4 CACC) shot 8-of-29 from the floor, including missing all eight attempts from beyond the three-point arc in the first half, scoring just 20 points as the Wildcats went into the break leading 42-20.
The home team came out with something to prove in the first five minutes of action, hitting their first three three-pointers for a quick 9-0 lead. Shawn Church and Nick Richards followed with back-to-back layups before Jermaine Head gave the Wildcats a 15-0 lead just 4:25 into the contest.
The Lions finally got on the board with a free throw with 15:03 left in the half but didn't make their first field goal of the game until 6:39 into the game, bringing the score to 18-4.
Shawn Church continued to hit three-pointers for the Wildcats, hitting back-to-back shot from deep to put the home team ahead, 38-16, with 3:16 left in the half. In total, Church went 5-of-12 from beyond the three-point arc in the first half, leading the team with 17 points. Miles Gillette nearly had his double-double in the first half, scoring 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, adding a game-high nine rebounds.
The second half started just as well for the Wildcats, as they came out and scored the first six points, capped by another three-pointer from Church for the 48-20 lead. Jermaine Head came up with a steal and pushed ahead to Gillette who finished and was fouled on the play. His old fashioned three-point play gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game, 51-22, with 17:21 left in regulation.
Church cooled off in the second half, but Gillette was there to pick up where he left off. Gillette went 3-of-4 from deep en route to an 8-of-10 second half, scoring 20 more points to set a new career high for the sophomore. The Wildcats went on to score 50 points in the second half, shooting 20-of-30 from the floor (5-of-12 from beyond the arc), assisting on 11 of the 20 made field goals.
Gillette led the way with a career high 34 points, shooting 12-of-18 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from deep. He added 6-of-7 from the foul line as well. His game high 14 rebounds gave him his fifth double-double of the season. He is now averaging 17.7 points and 11.3 rebounds in CACC play this year.
Church finished with 23 points, going 7-of-15 from beyond the arc. His seven three-pointers are tied for second in program history for made three-pointers in a single game. Tyaire Ponzo-Meek made seven threes against Georgian Court last season as well. Dominique Barron made 10 three-pointers at Caldwell in 2006.
All seven players that played for the Wildcats scored, as Head was the only other to reach double digits. He finished with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, adding eight assists and five steals. Nick Richards, coming back after being out for three games, scored nine points while adding six assists. Ed Henderson II scored four off the bench while Vincent Kent and Xavier Alston chipped in with two points each.
The Wildcats will take their two-game winning streak to Caldwell with their next contest. They head to the North Division foe on Wednesday night, following the women on the court with an approximate time of 7:30 p.m. in Caldwell, New Jersey.
