NEWARK, Del. - - Five Wildcats scored in double figures to lead the Wilmington University men's basketball team to a 92-74 victory over visiting Queens in the final nonconference game of the season on Wednesday night at the WU Athletics Complex.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Wildcats (14-11) as they now enter the final three Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games with momentum. They face Georgian Court, Holy Family, and Goldey-Beacom while sitting in fifth place, but just one game in the loss column out of second place in the South Division.
Queens (7-18) closed the first half gap to within 31-27 with 3:16 to play, but the Wildcats closed the first half on a 9-1 run to take a 40-28 lead into the halftime break. Marcus Pierce closed the half with a driving layup with less than a minute to play and then picked up a steal and dished it out to Randy Rickards who hit a three-pointer for the final points of the half.
Amiri Stewart and Justin Thomas hit three-pointer on back-to-back possessions to extend the lead out to 13 points early in the second half. Pierce came away with another steal and fastbreak layup to make it 55-37 and then made all three from the foul line after a three-point attempt to give the Wildcats their first 20-point lead, 60-38, with 15:42 to play.
The Knights closed the gap to 13 points, but Caleb Matthews answered with a three-pointer to stem the tide and hold a 69-53 lead. Matthews drove the baseline and put in a tough two moments later, giving the Wildcats a 19-point lead, 76-57, with 6:52 to play, the largest lead for the Wildcats the rest of the way.
Queens kept fighting but could get to within as few as 13 points the rest of the way. Randy Rickards put the game away with a pair of dunks, one off an inbounds from Caleb Matthews in the back court and then off a nice drive and feed from Skip Burton with 2:44 to play. Marcus Pierce had the dagger with a corner three right in front of his bench, 89-72, with 1:38 to play. Calvin Thomas capped the scoring with a turnaround jumper, making it eight different Wildcats that scored in the game.
Randy Rickards collected his second straight and eighth double-double of the season with 22 points and 11 rebounds, adding three assists, and four steals. Marcus Pierce poured in 16 points while adding four assists and two steals and Justin Thomas added 16 points as well. Amiri Stewart scored 13 points while Caleb Matthews came off the bench to score 13 points and three assists. Skip Burton had five assists and didn't turn the ball over at the point for the Wildcats.
The end of the season run starts on Saturday as the Wildcats head to Georgian Court in an important matchup. The Wildcats and Lions tip-off in Lakewood, New Jersey, at 2:00 p.m.
