BOWIE, Md. - - A stingy defensive effort in the first half led the Wilmington University men's basketball team to a 66-60 nonconference victory at Bowie State on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats (5-4) took the lead for good with an Amiri Stewart three-pointer with 15:56 left in the first half. They held the Bulldogs to just 33.3 percent shooting (9-for-27) in the first half, including not allowing a three-pointer (0-for-7) to take an 11-point lead into the halftime break. The Wildcats also turned seven Bowie State turnovers turned into six points for the Wildcats as well.
Bowie State grabbed a 6-4 lead with a jumper with 16:22 to play but then Amiri Stewart hit a three pointer to take a 7-6 lead. The Wildcat never relinquished the lead. With the Wildcat lead at 13-12, a Randy Rickards personal 6-0 run, including a steal and a dunk, sparked a 10-1 run, capped by a pair of Amiri Stewart free throws to give the Wildcats a 23-13 lead with 6:45 to play in the half.
Bowie again cut into the lead, 23-19, but then Justin Thomas and Kaleb Hedgepeth hit jumpers before Caleb Matthews hit a three-pointer and the Wildcats were leading, 30-19. Justin Thomas followed with another triple before another Thomas jumper gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game, 35-21, with 59 seconds showing on the clock. They took a 35-23 lead into the break.
The Bulldogs scored the first six points of the second half to close the gap to 35-29 less than two minutes into the half. Back-to-back buckets by Jordan Jackson and Amiri Stewart pushed the Wildcats lead back out to 44-36, but the Bulldogs continues to threaten and closed the gap to 44-42 with 14:24 to play.
Leading 49-47, Justin Thomas hit a three-pointer and then Amiri Stewart put in a layup to extend the lead back out to 54-47 with 8:16 to play. Neither team scored again until 5:05 left and it was a 5-0 run for the Bulldogs to again get within two points, 54-52, with 4:32 showing on the clock. But Stewart answered with an old-fashioned three-point play to keep the Bulldogs at an arms' length.
The game was again to within two points, 58-56, but Justin Thomas put back an offensive rebound and Caleb Matthews hit two from the foul line to go up six points, 62-56, with 1:52 to play. Caleb Matthews then hit three of his final four foul shots down the stretch to hold off the Bulldogs for the 66-60 victory.
Justin Thomas led the Wildcats with 19 points and five rebounds while Randy Rickards scored 16 points to go with eight rebounds and four blocks. Amiri Stewart finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks while Caleb Matthews came off the bench to score 10 points.
The Wildcats have a quick turnaround but return home for a Monday night contest against another CIAA foe. They face Lincoln (Pa.) at the WU Athletics Complex with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.