It may not have been the most aesthetically pleasing game of the season, but when the final buzzer sounded it was a victory.

After having its 12-point second-half lead evaporated, the Wilmington College men's basketball team scored seven of the game's last eight points to record the 72-66 victory over John Carroll Saturday in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Fred Raizk Arena in Hermann Court.

"This group of guys has some confidence and the belief in what we are doing and each other," said Wilmington head coach K.C. Hunt. "Ultimately, we made winning plays when it was winning time, and that is always the key in close games."

Wilmington improved to 8-4 overall, 5-1 in the OAC, while John Carroll fell to 9-4 overall, 3-3 in the OAC.

The Fightin' Quakers had a chance to breath easily down the stretch, but JCU made one final run. The spurt coincidently came as Heard went to the bench with his fourth foul of the game. With 10:22 remaining in the game, Wilmington led by 11 points as Heard was whistled for an offensive foul.

John Carroll outscored WC 16-5 over the next seven minutes to pull even at 63.

"Foul trouble is a part of the game," said Hunt. "I was more concerned with how we were playing. I thought we had some stretches where we were really good, but we just weren't consistent enough. We threw the ball all over the gym; kind of playing into their hands. We really got caught up in their chaotic tempo, which is why we let them stay around in the game."

It was an inbounds play, designed during the timeout, that allowed junior R.J. Leppert (Liberty Township, OH/Lakota East) to secure the tie-breaking lay-up. Free throws from seniors Malcolm Heard (Wilmington, OH/Wilmington) and Klarke Ransome (Richwood, OH/North Union) sealed the victory.

Heard earned his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Leppert tallied his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"I challenged both of those guys before the game," said Hunt. "I challenged Malcolm to get 15 rebounds, he came up four short – so we will have to talk about that – and I challenged R.J. to get at least 10. Both guys are capable of doing that on a nightly basis. We really figured with as many long rebounds as there is going to be and with as many possessions as they want to have, we needed five guys on the glass. I thought we did a really good job of defensive rebounding."

Ultimately it was the play on the defensive end of the court that decided the outcome. John Carroll came into the game ranked eighth nationally in scoring, and had scored more than 100 points on four occasions this season. Wilmington held the Blue Streaks to a season-low 66 points in recording the victory.

"I was proud of our kids on the defensive end of the court to hold a team averaging 92 points to 66," said Hunt. "It says a lot about how we guarded, and we took away a lot of the things they wanted to do. For the most part we had really good, high urgency level. We did a great job of sprinting back, sorting out and not giving up any easy baskets in transition. Teams that score that many points are relying on two things, transition baskets, and turnovers and deflections that go the other way for scores. Even though we turned the ball over a lot tonight, not many of them turned into easy baskets."

Senior Taylor Wellman (Norwood, OH/Norwood) came off the bench to double figures for the second time in three game with 10 points, while junior Dwight Johnson (Dayton, OH/Jefferson) added five points, seven assists, four steals and four rebounds.

"Dwight Johnson was awesome," said Hunt. "He was the ultimate distributor tonight. He made some big shots, but ultimately he found his teammates. Seven assists and four steals is a fantastic performance, and I thought he really controlled the game. "

Wilmington continues its three-game home stand hosting Otterbein 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. It will be Wilmington's "Green Swarm" night, where all WC fans are encouraged to wear green.