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NEWARK, Del. - - The friendly confines of the Wilmington University Athletics Complex served up another good one as the Wilmington University men's basketball team ran away with a 92-57 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference cross divisional victory over Felician on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, head coach Dan Burke earned his 100th career coaching victory at the helm of the Wildcats. He began coaching in the 2014-15 season, being in his eighth season in which his team has competed on the floor (the team did not compete in 2020-21). He is now 100-125 overall in his nine-year career.
It was tough to miss for the Wildcats on Saturday, as the team tied its season's best by shooting 57.6 percent from the floor. They also shot 57.6 percent in a win at West Chester earlier this year. The Wildcats hit a season-high 14 three-pointers and collected their most points so far this season in the win.
The only tie of the game was at 2-2 and the Wildcats separated themselves with a 14-0 run early int eh first half. The run started with a Randy Rickards steal and dunk and then another fastbreak layup and three-point play. Taalib Holloman hit three consecutive three-pointers and all of a sudden, the Wildcats led 28-10 with 10:17 showing on the clock.
Marcus Pierce sparked another 13-0 run for the Wildcats with five straight points before Skip Burton capped it with a fastbreak layup off a smooth full court bounce pass from Amiri Stewart. Kaleb Hedgepeth highlighted the first half with a dunk, finishing a behind-the-back pass from Skip Burton to give the Wildcats a 45-14 lead. The Wildcats went into the locker room with a 45-17 lead.
Three-pointers from Kaleb Hedgepeth and Caleb Matthews gave the Wildcats a 64-30 lead midway through the second half before two more three-pointers from Brycen Williams and Taalib Holloman had the Wildcats in front 78-38 with 6:34 to play. Jordan Jackson gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game with the 14th and final three-pointer of the game for the Wildcats, 86-43, before settling on the final score, 92-67.
The Wildcats had 13 student-athletes score in the game, led by Randy Rickards' 17 points. Rickards shot 8-of-9 from the floor and scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half. Taalib Holloman shot 4-of-7 from three-point territory and ended with 13 points while Justin Thomas was the third Wildcat in double digits with 10 points. Amiri Stewart led with 10 rebounds while Caleb Matthews had seven assists.
Wilmington continues its three-game homestand on Tuesday when they host CACC South Division rival Chestnut Hill. The Wildcats and Griffins will tip-off at 8:00 p.m. at the WU Athletics Complex.