Four players reached double figures, but it the Wilmington College defense that was the determining factor in the Fightin' Quakers' 74-55 victory over Eastern Mennonite Saturday in the first game of the 2014 Damon's/Hampton Inn Tip-Off Tournament.
Wilmington will play SUNY Geneseo 3 p.m. Sunday in the championship game. The Knights kicked off the season by beating 2014 NCAA Division III National Runners Up, Whitman, 64-52.
"It was a good first game," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "I think our depth helped us. We were able to keep players fresh for most of the game, and it helped us toward the end of the first half when we went on a run, and really at the end of the second half as well."
The Fightin' Quakers held Eastern Mennonite scoreless for the first 9:34 seconds of the game, opening up an 11-0 lead. While WC was building its lead, the Royals were digging themselves into deep foul trouble. Less than six minutes into the half, EMU had already put Wilmington into the bonus with its seventh foul of the game. Wilmington was 9-of-16 from the line for the rest of the half, including eight straight allowing the Fightin' Quakers to hold off a last first-half surge by the Royals.
Eastern Mennonite trimmed the WC lead to five with 3:40 remaining in the first half. Senior Spencer Robles (Clyde, OH/Clyde) scored Wilmington's final seven points in its 13-3 run that enabled it to take a 15-point halftime bulge.
After allowing EMU score five of the first six points to open the second half, trimming its lead down to nine points, junior Ashley Andracki (Columbus, OH/Bishop Watterson) sparked a WC spurt with a three-pointer. Wilmington tallied nine of the next 11 points that opened up a 16-point advantage.
Once again the Royals refused to go away quietly, cutting Wilmington's advantage to nine with 4:27 remaining. And once again, it was Andracki that was sparking a run. The point guard hit a lay-up and two free throws to get the momentum going, and the Green & White ran up a 15-3 spurt opening up a 21-point bulge in the waning moments.
Not only did WC keep Eastern Mennonite scoreless for nearly the first 10 minutes of the game, it forced 31 turnovers and held the Royals to just 31 percent shooting.
"We did some nice things on defense, but we made some mistakes as well," said Scheve. "We have to get better. Eastern Mennonite didn't shoot the ball well tonight. I would like to think we had a little to do with that, but they had an off night and it was to our advantage."
Additionally, the Quakers were 24-of-32 from the foul line, while EMU attempted just 23 free throws – making 14.
"Our goal is always to make more free throws than the other team shoots, and we managed to do that tonight," said Scheve. "It was definitely a key factor."
Senior Courtney Tucker (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) led the way with 14 points, a team-high five steals, four rebounds and two assists. Robles added 12 points and five rebounds, while sophomore Mary Moyer (Wilmington, OH/Clinton-Massie) and Andracki finished with 11 points. Moyer also pulled down seven rebounds.
Sophomore Hannah Haeseker (Germantown, OH/Valley View) pulled down a team-high nine rebounds with seven points.