WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College men's basketball team hung with No. 19 Heidelberg University into the second half, but the Student Princes outscored the Quakers 53-38 in the final 20 minutes to earn a 90-73 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) victory at Fred Raizk Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Wilmington matched Heidelberg nearly blow for blow in the first half. After the first 10 minutes yielded no separation, the Student Princes opened up a 30-23 advantage on two Isaiah Young free throws at the 8:22 mark. The Quakers kept pace, however, with baskets form Noah Dado and Lucas Doty to pull back within a possession. Two minutes later, a Collin Barker triple tied the game 30-30.
The visitors led 38-33 at the break with both teams shooting extremely well from distance. Heidelberg was 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) with four of them coming from Seth Hohman while the hosts were 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) with Obed Achirem going 3-for-3.
In the second half, Wilmington couldn't quite keep pace. The Quakers kept up their shooting from distance as Barker, a Wilmington High School alumnus, hit on all four triple attempts of the half. The Student Prince backcourt duo of Emmanuel Perdue and Isaiah Young proved too much as the two combined for 23 second-half points.
Heidelberg finished 32-of-70 (45.7 percent) from the field along with making 12-of-30 (40.0 percent) from distance and 14-of-20 (70 percent) from the charity stripe. The Student Princes also won the rebounding battle 43-36.
Wilmington shot better from distance (14-of-28) than it did from inside the arc (10-of-34) to go along with an 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) from the free throw line.
Perdue led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting while Hohman and Young both had 13 points. Eric Panning grabbed 11 rebounds while Zane Leitwein added 11 points off the bench.
For the Quakers, Barker led all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-7 from distance in 19 minutes off the bench. Abdul Kanu had 15 points and six assists while Achirem had 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
Wilmington (3-5, 0-3 OAC) heads to the University of Mount Union for a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday, Dec. 17.
