The Wilmington College men's basketball team knew this season was going to be a learning experience, and Saturday was another step up the rung for the youthful Fightin' Quakers. Unfortunately, it was growth in another loss as WC fell to John Carroll, 84-68, in Ohio Athletic Conference action in Fred Raizk Arena at Hermann Court.
John Carroll took control of the game with a 23-3 run to open up a 20-point lead just 13 minutes into the game.
"I thought, unfortunately, our young group came out a little passive and intimidated by the size and length of John Carroll," said Wilmington head coach K.C. Hunt. "It's a little disappointing, but also pleased with the way we fought and got ourselves back into the game."
However, Wilmington didn't go away.
After three consecutive threes by freshmen Andrew Russell (Columbus, OH/Central Crossing), Kevin Lewis (Cincinnati, OH/Clark Montessori) and Brandon Smith (Lebanon, OH/Lebanon), Wilmington had its deficit down to six. A foul and technical foul called on Smith's three-pointer had the Fightin' Quakers looking to crawl closer.
"I thought we showed a lot of grit and determination, but if we could start learning some lessons, applying them and start getting some wins," said Hunt. "We made a run because we were the aggressors. We took the fight to them instead of them taking the fight to us. We did a real nice job of rebounding the ball in the second half with Zach (McCorkle) and Jordan Hecker in particular got on the defensive glass. Ultimately, we had a couple of opportunities to cut (the deficit) even more, but some missed opportunities – lay-up wise – and missed free throws hurt us."
But Wilmington missed two of three attempts, and the Blue Streaks energized by the missed opportunities, scored nine straight to rebuild their cushion.
Sophomore Christian Jones (Hamilton, OH/Hamilton) finished with a team-high 15 points, while Russell added 12 points. Senior Zack McCorkle (Cincinnati, OH/Winton Woods) pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with six points, while freshman Jordan Hecker (Delaware, OH/Rutherford B. Hayes) grabbed nine boards.
Wilmington (1-6 overall, 0-3 OAC) travels to Heidelberg 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
