NEWARK, Del. - - The 2018-19 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Men's Basketball Tournament begins on Tuesday with a First Round contest between the Wilmington University men's basketball team and Bloomfield College at The Gym in Bloomfield, New Jersey.
The Wildcats earned the South Division's number four seed, marking the third year in a row the program made the CACC Tournament. They are looking for another run through the CACC Tournament like the 2014-15 team that saw them go to the CACC Tournament Championship game. That year, the Wildcats' run starts with a quarterfinal game on the road at Dominican as the South Division's No. 4 seed.
The Wildcats are participating in their fifth CACC tournament, with their first appearance coming in the 2009-10 season. This is their fourth appearance under head coach Dan Burke, and the third consecutive year in the postseason.
The CACC Tournament First Round games will be held at the higher seed, while the advancing teams will head to Caldwell for the remainder of the CACC Tournament.
Links to Follow the CACC Quarterfinals:
Live Stats: https://bcbearsathletics.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Live Stream: https://caccnetwork.com/bloomfield/
CACC Tournament Central: http://www.caccathletics.org/sports/mbkb/index
Admission to the 2019 CACC Men's Basketball Tournament:
Adults - $8.00
Seniors - $4.00
Students (with valid ID) - $4.00
Children under 3 – Free
Scouting the South No. 4 Wilmington University Wildcats:
The Wildcats are on a two-game losing streak to end the regular season. After clinching a CACC Tournament berth on January 19 against USciences, the Wildcats defeating Chestnut Hill, 105-93, but then fell to Holy Family, 82-66, and Goldey-Beacom, 92-85. The Wildcats are 3-7 in their last 10 games overall, going 3-5 in the month of February.
The Wildcats have the top two scorers in the CACC in Jermaine Head (22.6 ppg) and Thomas Farrior (21.4 ppg). Jermaine Head is also second in the league in minutes played per game, third in assists (144), second in steals (71), and ninth in rebounds per game (7.6). Farrior is 11th overall in grabbing 7.2 rebounds a contests as well.
Danny Walsh is scoring 12 points per game on the year while freshman Jordan Harding is averaging 10.6 points and 6.0 rebounds a contest. Ed Henderson II the eighth in the league in hitting 39.1 percent of his three-point attempts while Head is 10th, Walsh is 12th and Harding is 13th.
As a team, the Wildcats score the fourth most points per game in the CACC, putting in 81.5 points per game. That number goes up to 83.4 points per game against CACC competition, the third most in the league. The Wildcats take care of the basketball, ranking second fewest with only 12.2 turnovers a contest. They are also third in the league in hitting the deep ball, shooting at a 36.5 percent clip.
Scouting the North No. 1 Bloomfield College Bears:
The Bears are riding a 10-game winning streak coming into the CACC Tournament, not having lost since January 22 at Dominican, 91-84 in overtime. They are coming off a 94-86 victory against Caldwell in the regular season finale on Saturday.
The Bears have entered the Regional Polls late in the season, having been ranked No. 9 in the first installment of the NCAA Regional Polls last week. On Monday, they moved up to No. 8 in the final D2SIDA MBB East Regional Poll.
The Bears are led by Keith Washington's 19.7 points per game, ranking fifth in the CACC. Kavione Green is directly behind Washington in sixth place in the CACC, averaging 19.3 points per game, while leading the CACC in grabbing 11.0 rebounds a contest. Rich Chapman scored 15.9 points per game while Dontay Julius averages 11.5 points per game. Matt Lajeunesse is the final Bear in double figures, averaging 10.0 points per game on the year.
Keith Washington also leads the CACC in dishing out 6.0 assists per game. Matt Lajeunesse is 10th in the league in grabbing 7.3 rebounds per game as well for the Bears.
As a team, Bloomfield leads the conference in scoring 84.9 points per game, raising that mark to 89.8 points per game in CACC play. They give up the fourth most points, however, allowing 82.7 points per game.
All-Time Series vs. Bloomfield:
The Wildcats have lost three straight to the Bears and now trail Bloomfield in the all-time series, 15-3. The last time the Wildcats defeated the Bears was in the 2015-16 season, 79-73, at the WU Athletics Complex.
Bloomfield is 8-2 against the Wildcats in the last 10 meetings. The Wildcats defeated Bloomfield in the 2007-08, 2009-10, and 2015-16 seasons, all at home. The Wildcats are 0-8 inside Bloomfield's Gym.
The two teams have never met in the CACC Tournament.
Wilmington In The CACC Tournament:
2009-10 (0-1): S#2 Goldey-Beacom 79 – S#3 Wilmington 71
2014-15 (2-1): S#4 Wilmington 69 – N#1 Dominican 67; S#4 Wilmington 75 – S#2 Holy Family 71; S#1 Philadelphia 77 – S#4 Wilmington 68
2016-17 (0-1): N#3 Caldwell 81 – S#2 Wilmington 74
2017-18 (0-1): N#2 Dominican 86 – S#3 Wilmington 57
Overall: 2-4
Season Series and All-Time vs. CACC Tournament Participants:
North Division:
#1 Bloomfield College: 2018-19 – at L 110-95; All-Time – 3-15; CACC Tournament – 0-0
#2 Dominican College: 2018-19 – vs. L 92-83; All-Time – 5-15; CACC Tournament – 1-1
#3 Caldwell University: 2018-19 – vs. L 78-67; All-Time – 6-13; CACC Tournament – 0-1
#4 Felician University: 2018-19 – at L 90-72; All-Time – 5-13; CACC Tournament 0-0
South Division:
#1 Jefferson Rams: 2018-19 – vs. W 69-62, at L 97-94 (OT); All-Time – 7-22; CACC Tournament – 0-1
#2 Goldey-Beacom College Lightning: 2018-19 – vs. L 97-63, at L 92-85; All-Time – 8-23; CACC Tournament – 0-1;
#3 Holy Family University Tigers: 2018-19 – at W 93-83, vs. L 82-66; All-Time – 11-20; CACC Tournament – 1-0;
#4 Wilmington University Wildcats
2018-19 CACC Men's Basketball Tournament Schedule:
Tuesday, March 5 (First Round at Highest Seeds)
#4N Felician at #1S Jefferson (5:30 p.m.)
#3S Holy Family at #2N Dominican (5:30 p.m.)
#4S Wilmington at #1N Bloomfield (6:00 p.m.)
#3N Caldwell at #2S Goldey-Beacom (6:00 p.m.)
Saturday, March 9 (Semifinals at Caldwell University)
Game 1: Contest featuring Highest Seed Remaining (12 p.m.)
Game 2: Contest featuring Two Remaining Seeds (2 p.m.)
**Second semifinal will begin 30 minutes following the completion of the first game
Sunday, March 10 (Championship Final at Caldwell University)
Semifinal #1 Winner vs. Semifinal #2 Winner (12 p.m.)
The semifinals and final will be held at the George R. Newman Center on the Caldwell campus.