NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University men's basketball team turned a one point halftime lead into a 76-60 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory over Concordia on Saturday at the WU Athletics Complex using the strength of 10 steals and forcing 17 turnovers.
With the victory, the Wildcats (9-13, 5-8 CACC) have won two straight games for the third time this season, outscoring Concordia (3-16, 3-9 CACC) 41-26 in the second half. In combination with Goldey-Beacom's loss on Saturday, the Wildcats move to within a game of the Lightning for the fourth and final seed for the CACC South Division in the CACC Tournament with six games remaining.
Junior Tyrik Gass was a force down low for the Wildcats, leading the team with 14 points and nine rebounds, shooting 5-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the foul line. Gass also added a pair of steals in 28 minutes of work on Saturday. Valentino Thompson and Herb Dennis each scored 12 points while Ta'Vaune Griffin added 11 points to go along with eight rebounds.
In a tightly played first half, the Clippers tied the match for the third time on a three-pointer by Norman Pope with 3:28 remaining. Now on the see-saw, Tajee Almon sent the Wildcats into the halftime break leading 35-34 with a jumper from the foul line, which ended up giving the Wildcats the lead for good.
Out of the break, the Wildcats scored the first 12 points of the second half, receiving a three-pointer from Dennis, and buckets from Griffin, and Shaq Monroe-Gaskins through the run to give the home team a 47-34 victory with 15:14 left in regulation.
Another 10-0 run later in the second half pushed the Wildcats' lead to 23 points as Gass started the stretch with a layup and four straight free throws. Thompson laid one home on the fast break off a steal and Gass capped the 10-0 run with another layup, putting the Wildcats up 64-41 with 8:45 left on the scoreboard. Rashaun Rasheed gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game with one of his seven made free throws in the game, 70-46 with 3:58 to play.
The Wildcats turned the 17 Concordia turnovers into 15 points, while they also led 38-30 in points in the paint. Seven offensive rebounds also turned into 19 second chance points for the Wildcats.
Concordia was led by Tshyrad Oates game highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds while Rome Jenkins and Pope added 11 points each for the Clippers.
The Wildcats are on the road for their next three games, as they look to continue their late season CACC Tournament push. First up for Wilmington is a CACC doubleheader at South Division leading Philadelphia on Wednesday. The men will tip off second, starting at approximately 8 p.m.
