PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - The Wilmington University men's basketball team survived a second half comeback by Chestnut Hill to win its Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference opener, 70-68, on Saturday in Sorgenti Arena.
The Wildcats (4-3, 1-0 CACC) took a 15-point lead into the halftime break but the Griffins (2-6, 0-2 CACC) rallied in the second half and had a game-tying tip-in circle the rim and fall out as the buzzer sounded.
Wilmington did very little wrong in the first half, shooting 16-of-28 (57.1 percent) from the floor, including 6-of-13 from beyond the three-point arc. They handed out nine assists and only turned the ball over seven times in the first 20 minutes. The performance was epitomized by Justin Thomas' 7-for-7 shooting in the half, including 3-for-3 from deep.
Chestnut Hill's Lucas Dunn hit a three-pointer to cut the early deficit to 8-6, but then the Wildcats went on a 17-4 run, with Amiri Stewart capping the run by converting an old-fashioned three-point play, to take a 25-10 lead with 9:11 showing on the scoreboard.
Caleb Matthews and Jordan Jackson hit back-to-back threes to push the lead back out to 35-20 with 4:22 to play in the half and then another three by Thomas and a runner by Skip Burton had the Wildcats' lead out to 40-22. The Griffins scored the final three points of the half to send the game into the break with the Wildcats leading, 40-25.
The Griffins scored the first six points of the half to get to within single digits quickly, but a fast break dunk by Randy Rickards still had the Wildcats ahead, 51-41, with 12:05 left in regulation. The Griffins quickly cut the deficit back down to six points before Jordan Jackson put in a layup and converted the foul shot to give the Wildcats a 56-47 cushion with 9:14 to play.
The teams went back and forth as the Griffins tried to inch closer, getting to within five points on multiple occasions. Chestnut Hill had the game to 61-57 with 4:49 to play and then a three-pointer made it 63-60 still in favor of the Wildcats with 3:11 left. A pair of free throws saw the Griffins come all the way to within a single point, 63-62 with 2:44 on the clock.
Caleb Matthews answered with a key three-pointer and then Randy Rickards pushed the lead back out to six with two more free throws, 68-62. The Griffins answered again with a three-pointer, 68-65, with 1:21 to play, and put in an offensive rebound to close the gap to 68-67 with 10 seconds left.
Caleb Matthews hit two free throws for the three-point margin and the Wildcats put the Griffins on the line with 3.5 seconds to play. After hitting the first free throw, the Griffins intentionally missed the second, got the offensive rebound and heaved up three-pointer. The shot fell short but Conor Regan was there to try to tip-in the short shot. His game-tying chance circled the rim and fell out as the buzzer sounded.
Justin Thomas finished with 19 points and seven rebounds while Randy Rickards put in 14 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots. Caleb Matthews came off the bench to score 10 points while Jordan Jackson added nine points and five rebounds.
The Griffins had five players in double figures but only shot 40.6 percent from the floor compared to the Wildcats 54.0 percent.
The Wildcats return home for just the second time this season on Tuesday when they welcome CACC South Division foe Jefferson to the WU Athletics Complex. The men complete the CACC doubleheader with a schedule tip at 8:00 p.m.