Copyright 2016; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo by Frank Stallworth.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - The three-pointers continued to fall in the second half but only for Chestnut Hill as the Wilmington University men's basketball team went cold in falling to the Griffins, 86-78, in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division bout on Tuesday night in Sorgenti Arena.
The deep ball was falling for both squads in the first half, as the Wildcats (8-17, 3-13 CACC) went 7-for-12 and the Griffins (10-13, 7-8 CACC) went 8-for-16. The shots kept coming in the second half but only found the bottom of the net for the Griffins, as the Wildcats went 1-for-10 from deep while the Griffins shot 6-for-11 from beyond the arc to close out the victory.
After trading three-pointers, the Wildcats held a slim 20-19 lead with 8:45 to play in the first half. The Wildcats scored five straight en route to an 11-2 run to open a 31-22 lead late in the half. Sam Sanders and Tyaire Ponzo-Meek hit three-pointers during the run while Paul Medlin connected on an old-fashioned three-point play.
Medlin gave the Wildcats a double digit lead, 33-23, with 6:23 to play, and after a pair of Griffin free throws, Ponzo-Meek gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the night, 36-25, with another three-pointer with 5:23 left on the clock.
A 12-2 run brought the Griffins right back into the game before Sanders hit the team's final three-pointer of the half to stem the tide. Medlin hit a final layup at the buzzer, sending the Wildcats into the halftime break leading, 43-38.
A Drew Johnson II jumper and a Brian Adkins layup had the Wildcats up, 53-47, with 13:37 to play, but the Griffins responded with back-to-back old-fashioned three-point plays to eventually tie the game with 11:32 left. Another Griffin three-pointer gave the Griffins their first lead since the game was 3-2.
Ponzo-Meek hit one of his five three-pointer to cut the deficit to 62-60, but the home team again answered the call with seven straight points and a 9-2 run to open the lead out to 71-62 with 4:13 remaining in regulation.
The three-pointers kept coming for the Griffins as they hit two more down the stretch to extend the lead out to large as 77-66 with just over two minutes to play. The Griffins hit their final six free throws to close out the game.
Ponzo-Meek led the Wildcats with 24 points, shooting 5-of-8 from three-point land and 7-of-15 overall. Medlin finished with 17 points and eight rebounds while Sanders came off the bench to score 14 points with a pair of three-pointers. Adkins added 12 points while Johnson chipped in with 11 points and five assists.
The Griffins hit 14-of-27 from downtown while shooting 43.4 percent overall for the game. The home team shot 13-of-26 (50 percent) in the second half alone.
The Wildcats have three games remaining in the regular season, with a pair coming at the WU Athletics Complex. The team returns home on Saturday to face Felician at the WU Athletics Complex. The men will begin at approximately 3:00 p.m.