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NEWARK, Del. - - Led by a pair of freshmen, the Wilmington University men's basketball team inched closer to a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference playoff berth with a 92-76 victory over Chestnut Hill on Saturday afternoon inside the WU Athletics Complex.
With the win, the Wildcats (8-18, 6-8 CACC) need to win one of their final two games to clinch a berth into the postseason. They received help today from South Division leaders Jefferson who defeated Georgian Court. The Wildcats are now two games ahead of Georgian Court in the loss column for the fourth and final spot in the South.
The Wildcats had their best shooting performance since the second game of the season, hitting on 51.5 percent of their attempts. Their 11 made three-pointers are the most since they had 11 on January 4 against Staten Island, and the third most this season in a game. Eight of the 11 came from freshmen Denim Perkins and Jaylin Horsey, with Perkins hitting 5-of-7 and finishing with a season's best 26 points. Jaylin Horsey went 3-for-8 and scored 24 points off the bench.
The entire first half was played within a five-point swing, with the game seeing seven lead changes and 11 ties in the first 20 minutes. Dorien Johnson gave the Wildcats the lead for good in the game, first tying the contest, 39-39, with a free throw and then hitting a three-pointer with 38 seconds left for the lead. Hiram Alexander gave the Wildcats a 44-39 lead at the break with a pair from the line.
Chestnut Hill closed the gap to as few as 48-46 early int eh second half, but then the Wildcats got a floater from Perkins and five straight from Horsey to extend the lead out to 55-46. The Griffins again fought back to get it to within 55-53, but another quick 7-0 spurt by the Wildcats, again capped by a Horsey three-pointer, pushed the lead back out to 62-53 with 11:04 to play.
Denim Perkins hit two three-pointers within a minute of each other, with the second giving the Wildcats a double-digit lead, 70-60. Another layup by the freshman capped a 10-1 run as the Wildcats took a 72-60 lead.
Manir Waller gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game, 85-65, with a three-pointer finishing off an offensive rebound and assist from Tre Hawkins with 3:13 to play.
The Wildcats shot 60.0 percent from the floor in the second half (18-for-30), including 6-of-10 from deep.
Perkins added seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals in the game. Manir Waller scored 13 points to go with five rebounds and three assists. Tre Hawkins scored seven points and led the team with eight rebounds and four assists.
The Wildcats head to Caldwell on Tuesday for their final road game of the regular season. They tip things off at 7:30 p.m. in Caldwell, New Jersey.