PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - A second half outburst led the Wilmington University men's basketball team to an 83-70 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division victory at Holy Family on Saturday at the Campus Center Gym.
After trailing by five points at the halftime break, third year head coach Dan Burke made the proper adjustments to lead the Wildcats (14-6, 9-2 CACC) to 53 points in the second half, outscoring the Tigers (8-12, 6-5 CACC), 53-35, in the second half alone.
Holy Family led by as many nine points midway through the first half before the Wildcats climbed back to tie the score at 30-30. The Tigers hit a three, picked up a steal, and put in a layup in the final 10 seconds of the half to head into the break with a 35-30 lead and momentum.
Nick Richards scored the first three buckets for the Wildcats in the second half, and assisted on a Tajee Almon dunk to bring the Wildcats to within 39-38 in the opening minutes of the half.
The Tigers continued to lead, 61-59, with 7:29 to play before the Wildcats made their move. Richards and Almon hit jumpers to spark a 9-0 Wilmington run, capped by a Brian Adkins lead for the 68-61 lead. Richards added a three-pointer of his own for a 73-64 lead with 4:11 left. A third Almon dunk of the afternoon put the Wildcats on top, 77-68, with 2:05 to play before the Wildcats started sinking free throws to hold off the Tigers. Almon gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game with the final bucket of the contest, 83-70, with 28 seconds to play.
The win was the third in a row for the Wildcats, continuing a mark of winning eight of their last nine games overall.
Richards shot 12-of-19 from the floor and 5-of-9 from the foul line for 30 points overall. He narrowly missed the double-double with nine rebounds, adding five assists and five steals to stuff the stat sheet.
Tyaire Ponzo-Meek scored 16 points while adding four rebounds and four assists, and Almon collected his third consecutive double-double with 13 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Drew Johnson contributed a game-high five assists as well. The Wildcats assisted on 18 of their 32 made field goals on the afternoon.
The Wildcats shot 46.4 percent from the floor for the game, going 32-of-69, including 7-of-22 from beyond the three-point line. The Tigers only hit on 10-of-34 from beyond the three-point arc.
The Wildcats have six days off before they put their three-game winning streak on the line, as they head to Concordia next Saturday for a CACC cross-divisional matchup. The men cap off the CACC doubleheader with an opening tip at 3:00 p.m.