Copyright 2016; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. File photo of Drew Johnson II against Concordia.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - Philadelphia shot 58 percent from the floor and scored 46 of its points in the paint to take down the Wilmington University men's basketball team, 71-58, in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division action at the Gallagher Center on Tuesday night.
The Wildcats (6-15, 1-11 CACC) got off to a slow start in falling behind the Rams (18-4, 11-2 CACC), 12-2, in the first five and a half minutes of the game. The Wildcats were never fully able to recover from the slow start.
The Philadelphia frontcourt proved fits for the Wildcats all night long, as 46 of the team's 71 points (65 percent) came from inside the paint. The Rams also came up with eight blocked shots on the defensive end, aiding in the Wildcats only shooting 35.3 percent from the floor for the game. The Wildcats were able to force 14 turnovers and turn them into 15 points at the other end.
Once down 12 at the beginning of the game, the Wildcats could only claw back to as few as eight points throughout the rest of the game, as the Rams had an answer for every Wildcat run.
Sam Sanders hit his lone three-pointer of the game at the 9:34 mark of the first half to cut the Rams' lead to 22-13. Two more free throws from Sanders brought the Wildcats to within 24-15 before Drew Johnson II converted a steal from Tyaire Ponzo-Meek and flushed one home for a 25-17 deficit. After Ponzo-Meek laid one home to again get the margin to eight-points, the Rams scored six of the last eight points of the half to head into the locker room leading, 33-21.
A Brian Adkins three-pointer brought the Wildcats to within 35-27 early in the second half, but the Rams again answered with a bucket at the other end to thwart any momentum for the visitors.
The lead was out to 11 points for the Rams before Johnson hit a three-pointer with 12:42 left in regulation to cut the lead to 40-32. But Mike Louden answered with the lone three-pointer for the Rams all night on the ensuing possession. Again Ponzo-Meek hit a three-pointer for the Wildcats but Louden answered once more with a jumper to keep the Wildcats at an arm's length, 45-35, with 11:20 to play.
The Rams' largest lead of the night came at the 6:36 mark, as the home team converted an old fashioned three-point play to take a 56-40 lead.
Johnson led the Wildcats with a career high 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor, hitting 2-of-3 form beyond the three-point arc. Ponzo-Meek scored 15 points while adding a team high nine rebounds, five of which came on the offensive glass.
The Wildcats remain on the road for another CACC contest, this time head to a North Division foe on Saturday. The Wildcats head to Dominican where they last defeated the Chargers in the CACC Tournament Quarterfinals last season. The men follow the women and tip-off at approximately 3:00 p.m.