BEREA – The Wilmington College men's basketball team fell to Baldwin Wallace Saturday, 80-58, in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Ursprung Gymnasium.
It was an 18-3 second-half run by the Yellow Jackets that sunk Wilmington as BW turned a three-point lead into a 20-point bulge.
"We've been a team so far this year that has way too many droughts," said Wilmington College head coach K.C. Hunt. "Unfortunately, when we have those droughts we haven't been able to sustain the same energy on the defensive end to keep us in the game. That is what happened to us tonight. We battled, I thought we competed, but when you struggle to put the ball in the whole from point-blank range as well as from the three-point line – you are going to have a hard time winning games."
For the first 15 minutes, the teams battled each other. Baldwin Wallace threatened to put the game away with a 12-0 run. However, Wilmington scored eight straight capped by a dunk from Zach McCorkle (Cincinnati, OH/Winton Woods), and eventually, the BW lead was just five at the break.
McCorkle was dominant in the first half, tallying 14 points and seven rebounds over the first 20 minutes. He finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. It was the second time this season McCorkle scored at least 20 points, and the sixth time this season, he has reached double figures.
"Zach was a monster in the first half," said Hunt. "He came up with every rebound, he effected shots and protected the rim like we have been asking him to do. Now he has to figure out how to put those performances together, actually string halves together. He is going to be a force for the second half for sure."
During the aforementioned game-deciding run, Wilmington was just 1-for-8 from the field and Hunt tried the stem the tide using a pair of timeouts.
"We still at the stage where we are competing at the level we need to for only portions of the game," said Hunt. "Hopefully, we will see growth in the second half in that area, where we can sustain effort and give us a chance to win some games in the second half."
Freshman Brandon Smith (Lebanon, OH/Lebanon) reached double figures for the second time this season, scoring 10 points. Sophomore D.J. Iles (Fayetteville, OH/Fayetteville Perry) tied a career-high with six assists.
Wilmington (1-8 overall, 0-5 OAC) will be off until hosting Campbellsville 7:30 p.m. Monday, January 4.
