The Wilmington College men's basketball team returns home 3 p.m Saturday for an Ohio Athletic Conference meeting with Mount Union.
NCAA SERIES: Wilmington trails the NCAA series, 19-14, all coming as members of the Ohio Athletic Conference. Mount Union won the earlier meeting, 84-79, in Alliance.
MEET THE PURPLE RAIDERS: Mount Union comes into today's game looking to snap a two-game losing streak, and the Purple Raiders have lost four of their last six games. They are coming off a 82-78 loss to John Carroll Wednesday.
Sophomore Diallo Niamke tallied a career-high 27 points with 11 rebounds in the loss, while junior JJ Kukura added 21 points. It marked the third time in five games Niamke reached double figures.
Mount Union features two of the top three scorers in the Ohio Athletic Conference in DeAllen Jackson (19.4 points) and JJ Kukura (18.7 points). Jackson has reached double figures in all but three games this season, including reaching at least 20 points 10 times this season. His 7.1 rebounds leads the team, and has him ranked sixth in the OAC.
Kukura has scored at least 20 points in four straight games, and has reached double figures in all but two games. He dropped a career-high 40 on Hiram earlier this season. The junior has attempted at least three three-pointers in every game this season.
THE LAST MEETING: The Wilmington College men's basketball team put four scorers in double figures, however, their three-game winning streak came to an end with the 84-79 loss to Mount Union on December 3 in Ohio Athletic Conference action at the MAAC.
Sophomore Will Patrick tied the game on a jumper with one minute remaining, but the Purple Raiders answered 11 seconds later, and sealed the victory by going 3-for-4 down the stretch.
Patrick, who came into the game with 15 points total, broke out of his slump for a team-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting – including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Senior Christian Jones added 15 points and two assists, while junior D.J. Iles added 13 points.
GREAT SCOTT: Junior Nathan Scott tallied just two points in Wednesday's loss to Ohio Northern, but prior to that game, he recorded 20-point efforts in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. Scott has scored at least 14 points in six of the last nine games. During that time he is averaging, 14.6 points over that span.
In addition, his 12.5 points in Ohio Athletic Conference games lead the team.
GIVE ME MOORE: Freshman Kameron Moore has given the Wilmington frontcourt a tremendous boost since transferring in over break. He is averaging nine points in his eight games, but he starting to show his potential as he gets comfortable with his surroundings. Moore tallied a career-high 17 Wednesday, and has scored at least 12 points in three of the last four games.
DOUBLE FIGURES: Wilmington enters the game with four players averaging more than 10 points. Junior Christian Jones leads the way with 11.8 points, while sophomore Nathan Scott is right on his heels with 11.7 points.
Sophomore Andrew Russell is third on the team with 11.0 points and freshman Noah Chatman is fourth with 10.7 points.
EFFICIENT FROSH: Freshman Noah Chatman currently leads the Ohio Athletic Conference, making 65.2 percent of his attempts. Earlier this season, he set a Wilmington NCAA-era record with 14 made field goals. Chatman just missed the NCAA rankings eligibility of 5.0 FG made, converting 4.9 field goals.
WE ROLL DEEP: Wilmington's rotation features 11 players that are averaging at least 10 minutes per game, and only one player - junior Christian Jones - averaging more than 25.
