LAKEWOOD, N.J. - - Trailing by 19 points with 15:21 remaining in regulation, the Wilmington University men's basketball team put on a season-saving comeback and defeated Georgian Court, 88-83, on Saturday afternoon inside the GCU Wellness Center.
With the win, the Wildcats switch spots with Georgian Court in the CACC South Division and are now tied for third with Goldey-Beacom with a 7-8 conference mark. The Wildcats are now a game ahead of the Lions in the loss column who are in fifth place and on the outside of the playoff picture with one week remaining in the regular season. The Wildcats defeated the Lightning in the first meeting of the season but play each other once again next Saturday.
Randy Rickards converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 19-14 in favor of the Wildcats with 13 minutes left in the first half. But with the game now tied 26-26, the Lions went on a 23-12 run over the final 10:10 of the half to lead 47-38 going into the locker room.
The Lions opened the second half on a 13-4 run, shooting 4-for-5 including two three-pointers, to take a 49-38 lead. Randy Rickards put in a layup but the Lions came down and immediately hit a three-pointer to take their largest lead of the game, 63-44, with 15:21 showing on the clock.
But the Wildcats' offense woke up from there, as they answered with a 6-0 run and then a 16-1 run to close the gap to a single point with 8:53 to play. Justin Thomas was fouled on a three-point attempt and sank all three to pull the Wildcats to within one. Nalik Veasley put in a floater to bring the Wildcats to within one again, 71-70, and then two foul shots from Randy Rickards on their next possession gave the Wildcats their first lead since early in the first half, 72-71, with 6:03 to play. Overall it was a 28-8 spurt to take the lead, shooting 10-for-18 and 7-of-7 from the foul line for the Wildcats.
Georgian Court regained a three-point lead, 75-72, but then Taalib Holloman put in an old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game, sparking another 7-0 run. Justin Thomas' layup gave the Wildcats the lead for good while Randy Rickards added to the lead in the run.
The Wildcats then hit six straight from the foul line to grab an 85-79 lead with 32 seconds left. The Lions put in an offensive rebound with under 10 seconds to play to make it a single-possession game, 86-83, but they were able to get the ball in and Caleb Matthews sank both from the foul line to ice the game, 88-83, with seven seconds left.
From being down 19 to the end of the game, the Wildcats outscored the Lions, 44-23, shooting 13-of-25 from the floor and an incredible 17-of-18 from the foul line. They also used seven Georgian Court turnovers and collected four steals for the comeback.
Randy Rickards led the Wildcats with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor and a perfect 8-for-8 from the line, adding seven rebounds and two assists. Justin Thomas scored 19 points to go with five rebounds. Amiri Stewart scored 13 points while grabbing seven rebounds and three steals. Skip Burton scored 11 points in the start, adding five assists and five rebounds as well.
The Wildcats have two games left in the regular season, starting with a road contest at Holy Family on Wednesday night. They will host Goldey-Beacom on Saturday in the season finale. Wednesday's game is set for a 7:30 tip-off in Philadelphia.