CALDWELL, N.J. - - The Wilmington University men's basketball team worked hard to erase an early double digit deficit and held a second half lead, but the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference North Division leading Cougars from Caldwell retaliated and went on to win, 97-79, on Saturday on Corino Court.
The Wildcats (9-9, 3-6 CACC) were down by as many as 13 points in the first half, erased the full deficit to take a lead, but a late three-point gave the home team a 43-42 lead at the halftime break. An Amiri Stewart three pointer gave the Wildcats a 51-49 lead with 16:02 to play, but the Cougars answered with a 13-2 run of their own, never relinquishing the lead.
Even as the Wildcats found themselves 62-53, they battled back once again, as Marcus Pierce started a 10-2 run with a jumper. Fueled by four technical free throws made by Caleb Matthews, the Wildcats got back-to-back layups rom Randy Rickards to pull the Wildcats back to within 64-63 with 11:48 to play.
Caldwell threw another figurative punch back at the Wildcats though, answering with the next six points to lead 70-63 with 9:33 to play. Justin Thomas hit a three-point to close the gap to 72-67, but an offensive rebound on a miss free throw led to a Caldwell three-pointer and the Cougars led 76-67 with 7:54 to play. The Cougars added the next two buckets as well and all of a sudden led 80-67 with 6:18 showing on the clock.
After two free throws by Amiri Stewart to close the gap to 85-72, the Cougars rattled off the next eight points to lead 93-73 with 2:32 left to play in regulation, closing out the contest.
Amiri Stewart led the Wildcats with 15 points, adding three rebounds with three assists and two blocked shots. Caleb Matthews hit three three-pointer and scored 13 points, adding three assists and three steals in 24 minutes off the bench., Taalib Holloman and Randy Rickards each scored 11 points and added three rebounds.
Caldwell had five players in double figures, led by Mark Heber's game high 26 points while hitting four three-pointers.
The Wildcats have one more game to end their four-game road trip, as they travel to Molloy in a nonconference game on Wednesday. The road game in Rockville Centre, New York, is set to begin at 7:00 p.m.