WILMINGTON, Del. - - A 43-point second half effort led the Wilmington University men's basketball team to its first regular season sweep over cross-town rival Goldey-Beacom, 69-60, in a key Central Athletic Collegiate Conference game on Tuesday night at the Joseph West Jones Center.
Trailing by six points after a slow first half, the Wildcats (3-11, 3-4 CACC) took the lead for good on a Robert Byrd three-pointer with 6:46 to play. Dating back to when Wilmington joined the NCAA ranks prior to the 2004-05 season, Wilmington won both contests over their Delaware rivals in the regular season.
Goldey-Beacom (5-10, 2-5 CACC) had as big as a seven-point lead in the second half before Wilmington began to take over. The Lightning were led by Marcus Porter who tallied his fourth double-double in the last five games with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Although it was Byrd's three-pointer that gave the Wildcats the lead for good, it was senior Andrew Corrigan's offensive contribution that held the Lightning at bay down the stretch. With the margin down to two points, Corrigan hit a three-pointer from the right corner with 3:31 showing on the clock and knocked down a pair of free-throws on the Wildcats' next possession to extend the lead back out to seven at 61-54 with 2:53 remaining in the game. The Lightning would only get as close as five points the rest of the way.
The comeback started following an AJ Picard three-pointer that put the Lightning up six at the 14:42 mark of the second half. Shai Henry hit one of two from the line before Brandon Fox followed with one of his two free throws to make it a 44-40 game. Fox then converted a layup and then hit one of his two from the charity stripe on the next trip down the floor to make it a one-point game with 10:16. The Wildcats would remain within four points over the next four minutes until Byrd's three-pointer.
A completely different team showed up after the halftime break, as the Wildcats shot a dismal 8-for-29 from the floor. Four of their first half shots that found the bottom of the net were three-pointers while the remaining six points came from the foul line. The team also committed 11 first half turnovers that led to 10 Goldey-Beacom points. The Wildcats found themselves down 32-26 at the break.
All that changed after the teams came out of the locker room, as they Wildcats went on to put up 43 points while shooting 9-for-22 from the floor (a 13.3 percent increase from the first half), including 3-for-4 from three-point territory. The Wildcats sealed the deal on their third CACC victory by going 22-for-27 from the foul line in the second half.
Wilmington had four players in double figures for the evening, led by Isiah Mason's 16 off the bench. James Pee hit three three-pointers and added four from the foul line for 15 points while Herb Dennis chipped in with 12, seven of which came from the foul line. Fox narrowly missed a double-double of his own, scoring 11 points and adding a team high nine rebounds.
The Wildcats will look to win back-to-back games for the first time all season and take revenge from an early season loss on Saturday when they take on USciences at the WU Athletics Complex. The men's tip is slated for 3 p.m.