NEWARK, Del. - - A late game push ran out of steam for the Wilmington University men's basketball team, falling to Jefferson, 84-79, in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division matchup on Tuesday night at the WU Athletics Complex.
Trailing by 13 points with 6:00 minutes to play in regulation, the Wildcats (4-12, 2-2 CACC) closed the gap to a single possession with a minute to play, but the Rams (9-6, 3-2 CACC) hung down to take the first meeting of the year between the two squads.
Tre Hawkins started a 7-0 run with back-to-back buckets before Justin Perez converted a three-point play to put the Wildcats in front, 15-12 in the first half. Denim Perkins and Izaiah Credle hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Wildcats their largest lead of the game, 28-21, with 8:40 to play int eh first half. The Rams regained the lead with a three-pointer and the Wildcats tied it once more with two from the foul line, 33-33. But Jefferson outscored the Wildcats, 7-4, the rest of the half to take a 40-37 lead into the break.
Denim Perkins hit a three-pointer early in the second half to close the gap to 44-42, but then the Rams used a 14-1 run to take their largest lead of the game, 58-43, with 13:42 showing on the clock.
The Wildcats began to turn up the pressure with less than six minutes to play, starting with a 6-0 run to bring the deficit to within 72-65 with 4:06 to play. Justin Perez hit a corner three-pointer with 1:36 to play, bringing the Wildcats to within four points and then the Wildcats go another defensive stop. Perez was fouled and made the second, making it a three-point game, 78-75, with 1:01 to play. The Wildcats got another stop, but a scooping driving layup that would have brought the Wildcats to within a point with 23 seconds left was left short and Jefferson came away with the rebound. Perkins hit a corner three-pointer with five seconds to play to make it a three-point game again, but the Rams hit their free throws down the stretch to close out the victory, 84-79.
The Wildcats outworked the Rams on the offensive glass, grabbing 15 and coming away with 17 second chance points. The Wildcats also outscored the Rams, 32-26, in the paint, but a major difference. Between the two teams came from the foul line. The Rams shot 20-of-22 from the charity stripe while the Wildcats went 19-for-33.
Denim Perkins led the Wildcats with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Justin Perez also scored 17 points to go with four rebounds while Manir Waller scored 15 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Tre Hawkins finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
The Wildcats look to rebound with their next game on Saturday, as they travel to CACC North Division leading Dominican. The men tip-off inside the Hennessey Center at 3:00 p.m. in Orangeburg, New York.
