SPRINGFIELD, OH – Freshman Christian Jones was simply on fire Monday as the Wilmington College men's basketball team shook off a sluggish start to beat Alma, 92-85, in the opening game of the 2014 Zimmerman Memorial Classic at the Pam Evans Smith Arena in the HPER Center.
Jones (Hamilton, OH/Hamilton) sunk a WC freshman record seven three-pointers for a career-high 21 points.
"Number one, he is a tough kid; and number two, he can really shoot it," said Wilmington head coach K.C. Hunt. "We did a very good job of making extra passes and we were fortunate enough that he was able to knock down his shots."
Senior R.J. Leppert (Liberty Township, OH/Lakota East) led the team with 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks.
Two other players reached double figures for the Fightin' Quakers as senior Jonathan Bibbs (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and sophomore Law Williams (Dayton, OH/Thurgood Marshall) finished with 21 points. Senior guard Dwight Johnson (Dayton, OH/Jefferson) dished out a season-high six assists and pulled down a season-high six boards to go along with seven points.
The Fightin' Quakers (3-7 overall) plays the winner of the Wittenberg/Waynesburg meeting 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Wilmington fell behind as the Fightin' Scots scored seven of the first nine points, and built a 15-point lead just eight minutes in the game. It took those eight minutes before WC reached double figures.
"We didn't guard really aggressive enough, and they sprayed us with a bunch of three's," said Hunt. "The lack of guarding the basketball allowed them to penetrate and kick. The key to the game was after the first eight minutes we sat down and guard the ball, and kept it out of the paint."
Five of Alma's first seven baskets were from beyond the arc in that opening eight-minute span. It was more than 33 percent of the team's total three pointers on the game.
Back-to-back three's from Jones trimmed Wilmington's deficit to just six points midway through the half. However, Alma stayed calm and rebuilt its advantage back to double digits. Once again it was the freshman sharpshooter that was in middle of a run as Jones hit four three-pointers during a 22-6 run that spanned the end of the first half and beginning of the second that enabled Wilmington to take its first lead of the game.
The Fightin' Quakers, who fought off five ties down the stretch, trailed for just 21 seconds for the rest of the contest.
Following the final tie, 92-all with 2:38 remaining, back-to-back three-pointers from Jones and Williams boosted the WC advantage to six points. The Fightin' Quakers sealed the victory by hitting 4-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Wilmington dished out a season-high 22 assists and committed a season-low seven turnovers in securing the victory. The 12 three-pointers made were the second-most for WC this season.