Men's Basketball Holds on 77-73 to Sweep Muskingum

The Fightin' Quakers started the game off hot, opening the contest on a 21-5 run that was capped by two triples from Gavin Heimlich and one from Bryce Bird. The Fighting Muskies would cut that deficit in half (32-25) on a Mason Purvis triple with 4:27 to play in the first half, but a Collmann Aaron triple and a Jeffery Mansfield layup pushed the visitor's advantage to 44-34 at halftime.

 

The second half began just as the first did with Wilmington opening on a large run. Three points from Bird capped a 16-4 run in the first eight minutes to put the Quakers on top 60-38, their largest lead of the game. Muskingum, however, began to chip away at the deficit. Alex Masinelli, who entered the game averaging over 20 points per game, began to get hot and fueled a 19-9 run that got the hosts back to within single digits (68-57) with just over five minutes to play. Two minutes later, a Masinelli layup got Muskingum within four points at 69-65.

 

Two Mansfield free throws pushed the WC advantage back to a half-dozen points, but the Muskies continued to push and would get the ball back trailing by a single possession (72-69) with under a minute to play. Two Masinelli free throws were answered by two Bird free throws, and after a Musky layup, Anthony Freeman made 1-of-2 free throws and a Bird steal ended the host's comeback bid.

 

Muskingum made three more field goals than Wilmington, but the Quakers made up the difference with a 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) performance from distance and making seven (21-14) more free throws. The Muskies won the battle of the boards 39-30.

 

Individually, a pair of Quakers turned in double-doubles with Noah Dado leading the way with 17 points and 11 rebounds to go along with three blocks and two steals while Mansfield had 14 points and completed his double-double with 10 assists. Heimlich and Bird both scored in double figures off the bench. Masinelli led all scorers with 31 points while playing all 40 minutes for Muskingum in defeat.