NEWARK, Del. - - The 2024-25 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Men's Basketball Tournament begins on Tuesday with a First-Round contest between the Wilmington University men's basketball team and Dominican University of New York at the Hennessy Center in Orangeburg, New York.
The Wildcats (9-19, 7-9 CACC) earned the South Division's number four seed, marking it the eighth straight year in which the Wildcats earned a CACC Tournament berth, and the ninth time in the last 10 playing seasons under head coach Dan Burke. Dominican won the North Division and is the tournament's No. 1 overall seed with a 14-2 conference record, going 19-7 overall this season.
The CACC Tournament First Round games will be held at the higher seed, while the advancing teams will head to Jefferson for the remainder of the CACC Tournament.
Links to Follow the CACC Quarterfinals:
Live Stats: https://wildcats.athletics.wilmu.edu/sports/mbkb/2024-25/boxscores/20250304_bykd.xml
Live Stream: https://www.caccnetwork.com/athleticswilmu/?B=2239883
CACC Tournament Central: https: https://caccathletics.org/tournaments/?id=9
CACC Full Court Press (Video): https://caccnetwork.com/
Admission to the 2025 CACC Men's Basketball Tournament:
Adults - $10.00
Seniors - $5.00
Children under 3 – Free
Scouting the South No. 4 Wilmington University Wildcats:
The Wildcats have four players that score in double figures on the season, but that number jumps up six Wildcats scoring in double digits when playing CACC opponents.
A pair of freshmen currently lead the Wildcats in scoring, but four different Wildcats have been the overall scoring leaders on the team throughout the year. Jaylin Horsey (Wilmington, Del./William Penn) comes off the bench and leads the team in scoring 12.9 points per game, scoring 15.3 points per game in CACC play. Tre Hawkins (Waldorf, Md./Grace Brethren Christian) commands the paint and plays nearly 30 minutes per game, scoring 12.7 points per game and 13.6 against CACC foes. Justin Perez (West Warwick, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) has started every game this year and scores 12.6 points per game, going up to 13.5 against CACC opponents. Manir Waller (Abington, Pa./Abington) does more than score but averages 11.3 points per game while averaging 12.9 in CACC games.
Denim Perkins (Dover, Del./Dover) is up to scoring 9.4 points per game on the year, but scores 10.1 against CACC foes. Izaiah Credle (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) scores 8.1 points on the year but has averaged 10.1 points in CACC play.
Perkins leads the CACC in dishing out 4.8 assists per game and is seventh overall with a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. Perkins is also 2nd in the league with 2.1 steals a game. Manir Waller ranks 16th in the league in grabbing 6.4 rebounds a game, 17th with 3.0 assists a game, and 17th with 1.4 steals a game. Jaylin Horsey is 5th in the CACC in hitting 39 percent of his three-pointers this year.
As a team, the Wildcats are 4th in the CACC in scoring 77.7 points per game and 10th in allowing 82.4 points per game. The Chargers are 2nd in the CACC in scoring 83.5 points per game and 7th in allowing 78.0 per game.
All-Time Series vs. Dominican:
Tuesday will be the 26th meeting between the two programs since the Wildcats joined the NCAA ranks for the 2004-05 season. It is also the third time the Wildcats and Chargers will meet in the First Round of the CACC Tournament, with the postseason series tied, 1-1. Dominican holds the all-time series lead, 18-7, including winning the regular season matchup this season, 97-68, on January 18.
The first time these two teams met in the postseason was in the 2015 CACC Tournament First Round. The game turned into an instant classic with the Wildcats' Rashaun Rasheed hitting a game-winner just ahead of the buzzer, 69-67. It was the first postseason win for the Wildcats in its NCAA era. The other meeting came in the 2018 CACC Tournament First Round, with Dominican winning, 86-57. Both games were hosted by Dominican in the Hennessy Center.
The two teams met on January 18 and Dominican shot 54.5 percent for the game, turning 22 Wilmington turnovers into 28 points at the other end. The Chargers also scored 62 of their points in the paint.
Justin Perez and Izaiah Credle scored 12 points each for the Wildcats, with Perez grabbing six rebounds. Tre Hawkins scored eight points to go with four rebounds and three assists while Manir Waller scored seven points to go with six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Denim Perkins scored five points with five rebounds and seven assists. Jaylin Horsey did not play at Dominican.
Dominican had four players in double figures, led by Emmanuel Smith's 20 points and five rebounds. Isaiah Honis scored 17 points and had four steals while Jaden Honis came off the bench to score 16 points and have three steals. Koi D. Kirk had 12 points as well for the Chargers.
Wilmington In the CACC Tournament:
2009-10 (0-1): S#2 Goldey-Beacom 79 – S#3 Wilmington 71
2014-15 (2-1): S#4 Wilmington 69 – N#1 Dominican 67; S#4 Wilmington 75 – S#2 Holy Family 71; S#1 Philadelphia 77 – S#4 Wilmington 68
2016-17 (0-1): N#3 Caldwell 81 – S#2 Wilmington 74
2017-18 (0-1): N#2 Dominican 86 – S#3 Wilmington 57
2018-19 (0-1): N#1 Bloomfield 105 – S#4 Wilmington 86
2019-20 (1-1): S#3 Wilmington 76- N#2 Post 69; S#1 Jefferson 100- S#3 Wilmington 61
2020-21 (DNP – COVID-19 Pandemic)
2021-22 (0-1): N#1 Post 100 – S#4 Wilmington 89
2022-23 (0-1): N#1 Caldwell 86 – S#4 Wilmington 77
2023-24 (0-1): N#2 Post 79 – S#3 Wilmington 77
Overall: 3-9
Season Series and All-Time vs. CACC Tournament Participants:
North Division:
#1 Dominican University: 2024-25: at L 97-68; All-Time: 7-18; CACC Tournament: 1-1
#2 Post University: 2024-25: vs. L 81-72; All-Time: 8-18; CACC Tournament: 1-2
#3 University of Bridgeport: 2024-25: at W 77-75; All-Time: 1-3; CACC Tournament: 0-0
#4 Caldwell University: 2024-25: at L 91-82; All-Time: 9-17; CACC Tournament: 0-2
South Division:
#1 Jefferson University: 2024-25: vs. L 84-79, at L 79-77; All-Time: 8-32; CACC Tournament: 0-2
#2 Chestnut Hill College: 2024-25: at L 83-73, vs. W 92-76; All-Time: 20-14: CACC Tournament: 0-0
#3 Goldey-Beacom College: 2024-25: at L 87-85, vs. W 98-83; All-Time: 13-28; CACC Tournament: 0-1
#4 Wilmington University
2024-25 CACC Men's Basketball Tournament Schedule:
Quarterfinals (Tuesday, March 4, at Sites of Higher Seeds)
N#3 Bridgeport at S#2 Chestnut Hill, 6 p.m.
S#3 Goldey-Beacom at N#2 Post, 6 p.m.
N#4 Caldwell at S#1 Jefferson, 7:30 p.m.
S#4 Wilmington at N#1 Dominican, 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals (Saturday, March 8, at Gallagher Center, Thomas Jefferson University)
Dominican/Wilmington winner vs. Chestnut Hill/Bridgeport winner, 5 p.m. or 7 p.m.**
Jefferson/Caldwell winner vs. Post/Goldey-Beacom winner, 5 p.m. or 7 p.m.. **
**-Highest remaining seed in the tournament will play in the day's first game
Championship Final (Sunday March 9 at Gallagher Center, Thomas Jefferson University)
Semifinal winners, 2:30 p.m.