Men's Basketball Slips Past Muskingum 84-82

Photo by Randy Sarvis
Photo by Randy Sarvis

NEW CONCORD, Ohio - Trailing by a point with less than 30 seconds to play, Jeffery Mansfield scored the go-ahead layup and earned a steal to give the Wilmington College men's basketball team a come-from-behind 84-82 win at Muskingum University in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action on Wednesday evening.

Muskingum scored the first seven points of the game, but Wilmington came roaring back with a 15-4 run fueled by 13 straight points from Will Patrick. Neither team would lead by more than five points the rest of the first half. A Mansfield layup put the Quakers up 34-32 with less than a minute to play in the half, but two Brandon Keyes free throws tied the game up 34-34 at the break.

DaeShawn Jackson would open the second half with a bucket, but Wilmington wouldn't lead again until over 15 minutes later. Muskingum grew its lead to nine (55-46) with 13:22 to play, but the Quakers chipped away and eventually regained the advantage on an Aaron Mullins triple with 3:04 to play.

Trailing 73-71, the Muskies went on a quick 7-0 run to build back up a five-point differential. Back-to-back triples from Jackson with a Muskingum layup in between put the hosts up 80-79. The teams traded sets of free throws made until Mansfield's heroics gave the Quakers the comeback win.

Wilmington shot 33-of-72 (45.8 percent) from the field as well as 12-of-32 (37.5 percent) from distance. Muskingum countered with 28-of-50 (56.0 percent) from the field and 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. The Muskies held a 35-28 rebounding edge, but were forced in 19 turnovers.

Individually, Jackson led Wilmington with 19 points including making five triples while Patrick added 18 points off the bench. Mansfield scored a career-high 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting to go along with five rebounds, five steals, two assists and two blocks.

Keyes led Muskingum with 19 points in defeat.

Wilmington improves to 15-6 overall and 11-4 in the OAC with the win. The Quakers host Marietta College for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday.