WILMINGTON, Ohio – Mount St. Joseph University (MSJ) got out to a 15-2 lead in the first six minutes of the game and hung on to earn a 65-60 road win over the Wilmington College men's basketball team at Fred Raizk Arena on Wednesday evening.
The Lions (1-1), opened the evening by hitting 5-of-7 triples to build that double-digit lead. The Fightin' Quakers would get as close as a point (18-17) on a Bilal Sow layup at the 6:21 mark of the half, but the visitors closed out the half on an 8-4 run to take a 31-23 lead into the halftime break.
Midway through the second half, Wilmington tied the game 45-45 as a Jayden Lewis block led to an Andrew Clark layup with 8:19 to play. MSJ would regain a one-possession lead 30 seconds later, but a Lewis triple erupted the Hermann Court crowd as Wilmington had its first lead (48-47) of the game. Unfortunately, that would be the only lead of the contest as a 10-4 spurt from the visitors was enough to escape win a road victory.
Both teams shot between 40-45 percent from the field in the game with the Lions making 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from distance compared to a 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) evening for the Quakers. Wilmington forced 15 MSJ turnovers thanks in part to nine steals, but a 42-25 rebounding deficit was too much for the hosts to overcome.
Jeffery Mansfield led all scorers with 20 points and eight rebounds to go along with five assists and three steals. The Wilmington High School alumnus also drew 11 of the Lion's 21 fouls committed. Sow also finished in double figures for WC, tallying 16 points in just over 27 minutes played.
A trio of Lions – Evan Wiehe, Devin Young and David Luers – scored in double figures and combined for 45 of MSJ's 65 points.
Wilmington (0-1) returns to action on Monday with a 6 p.m. contest against Olivet College (Michigan) at Fred Raizk Arena.
