UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OH – The Wilmington College men's basketball team continues to improve on a game-by-game basis, however, it isn't showing up in the win column.
Wilmington scored a season-high 86 points, but fell to John Carroll Saturday, 96-86, in Ohio Athletic Conference action at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.
"It was an extremely competitive game with the exception of a two, three minute stretch with seven minutes remaining. They went on a 10-0 run where we had some defensive lapse and weren't urgent to get to their shooters."
The aforementioned stretch, which was capped by back-to-back three-pointers with five minutes left, enabled the John Carroll to stretch its four-point lead to 14. Unfortunately, the Fightin' Quakers couldn't make a push.
Over the first 20 minutes, Wilmington had the game at the pace it wanted, and trailed by just one at halftime. Facing the league's top scoring team, the Fightin' Quakers felt good about themselves at the break.
"They average 95 points coming in, so it wasn't like we let them blow past their average," said Hunt. "We had the game at pace we needed it, about 80 points for a total game, 41-40, at half. And we let them score 55 in the second half. A lot of it was we weren't as urgent getting to their shooters. I thought we got worn down with their overall depth and length. They are a very good basketball team; and one of the best teams – if not the best – in our league."
It was almost a tale of two halves for senior R.J. Leppert (Liberty Township, OH/Lakota East). He dished out five of his six assists and grabbed the majority of his rebounds in the first half, and then did the bulk of his scoring damage in the second 20 minutes.
Leppert finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals to lead the Fightin' Quakers.
"Early on, he was much more of a distributor," said Hunt. "He had five assists and no turnovers, along with seven points and nine rebounds. He played a great first half. In the second half, he had a couple breakout opportunities."
Freshman Christian Jones (Hamilton, OH/Hamilton) tallied a career-high 17 points with five rebounds and two assists. Senior Dwight Johnson (Dayton, OH/Jefferson) added 11 points and freshman Roemello Reeves (Dayton, OH/Spring Valley Academy) added 10 points.
Despite the loss, Hunt is still confident in his young team.
"Quite honestly, number one we have to get healthy," said Hunt. "Number two we have to continue to improve on a daily basis. We actually played a pretty solid basketball game tonight against a Top 25 team, in my opinion. The thing we have to do as a group is not look at our record, but what we are doing. I still have a 100 percent belief that this team is going to be a tough out when it matters in February and March. We have to keep grinding and get better."
Wilmington (1-6 overall, 0-3 OAC) hosts Heidelberg 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Ohio Athletic Conference action.