CALDWELL, N.J. - - A poor shooting night resulted in an 86-64 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference loss for the Wilmington University men's basketball team at Caldwell in a cross-divisional contest on Wednesday night at the Newman Center.
At the other end of the floor, the Cougars (6-9, 3-3 CACC) shot 51.6 percent from the floor for the game, hitting six three-pointers. The Wildcats (9-6, 4-2) only went 6-of-25 from deep while shooting 33.3 percent from the floor for the game.
Eleven seemed to be the magical number for the Cougars on Wednesday night, as a pair of 11-0 runs in each half defined the game.
Jermaine Head put the Wildcats on the board directly off the opening tip, but the Cougars answered with an 11-0 runt to gain control of the first half. The home team took their first 10-point lead with 11:50 showing on the clock, 15-4. The first half lead grew to as large as 22-7 with 9:26 left, but the Wildcats closed the half on a 20-12 run to close to within seven at the half. The Cougars scored the final bucket of the half, going into the break leading 34-27.
A pair of free throws from Head brought the Wildcats to within 39-35 early in the second half, but the visitors couldn't get any closer the rest of the way. Shawn Church laid one in to bring the Wildcats to within 50-43 with 11:50 to play in regulation, but the Cougars answered with another 11-0 run over the next 2:11 of game play to take a commanding 61-43 lead with 9:39 left.
Head hit two three-pointers in a quick 8-0 Wilmington run, getting back to within 61-51, but another 11-1 outburst from Caldwell quickly put the home team up 72-52 with 5:27 left in regulation. The lead grew to as large as 24 points with 4:15 to play before the Cougars settled on the 22 points victory, 86-64.
Head's 24 points led the Wildcats on 8-of-17 shooting. Nick Richards shot 6-of-18 from the floor and 8-of-15 from the foul like for 21 points, adding 11 rebounds, five assists, and two steals for his second double-double of the year. Church was the final Wildcat in double figures with 10, shooting 4-of-15 from the floor, including 2-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc. Vincent Kent chipped in with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
Caldwell welt 33-of-64 (51.6 percent) from the floor, led by Eric Johnson-Alford's game-high 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting. He added 12 rebounds for a double-double as well.
The Wildcats will look to get back into the win column with their next matchup on Saturday afternoon. They stay with the CACC cross-divisional matchup, hosting North Division's Concordia at the WU Athletics Complex at approximately 3:00 p.m.