NEWARK, Del. - - Felician dominated the paint on its way to an 89-51 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory over the Wilmington University men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.
The Golden Falcons (5-11, 3-5 CACC) snapped a six-game losing streak by going inside, outscoring the Wildcats (5-12, 3-5 CACC), 52-20, in the paint. Felician also shot 54.5 percent from the floor, as compared to the Wildcats' 29.8 percent for the game, the second worst percentage on the season for Wilmington.
Freshman Taalib Holloman kept the Wildcats in the game early with his season's best output, hitting a three-pointer in the corner to tie the contest, 12-12, with 13:47 to play in the half. A steal and a contested layup at the other end by Holloman again tied the game, 14-14, before he came away with another steal and this time flushed it home for the 16-16 tie with 11:19 showing on the clock.
But the Wildcats missed their next five shots while the Golden Falcons scored five points and never gave up the lead. They ended the half on a 24-7 run, taking a 40-23 lead into the halftime break. The Wildcats shot 9-of-29 from the floor, including 3-of-15 from three-point territory, in the first half.
Jermaine Head and Jordan Harding scored five straight points early in the second half to cut the deficit to 14, but that would be as close as the Wildcats would get for the rest of the contest. Felician answered with a 9-0 run, taking a 51-28 lead with 15:33 still to play. Another 9-1 spurt pushed the visitors lead out to 60-31, rounding out an 18-3 run in 7:22 of game-time. Another 18-6 run gave Felician their largest lead of the afternoon, 85-42, before settling on the final score, 89-51.
Holloman scored a new career best 12 points on 7-of-13 shooting, but was the only Wildcat to reach double figures. Jordan Harding and Kam Cooper scored 7 points each while Harding grabbed a team's best five rebounds.
Felician's Jared Pearson was perfect off the bench, leading the way with 20 points on 9-of-9 shooting and 2-of-2 from the foul line. The Golden Falcons had five players in double figures.
The Wildcats will look to regain momentum when they take to the court again on Tuesday, as they host USciences at the Complex. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
