WESTERVILLE, Ohio - The Wilmington College men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point deficit late in the first half to defeat Otterbein University 78-72 in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) contest from the Rike Center on Wednesday.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 16-7 lead less than four minutes into game, but the Quakers stayed the course. After an Abdul Kanu jumper, Wilmington Head Coach Micah Mills called a quick 30-second timeout. Alex Hannah scored for the hosts out of the timeout, but consecutive triples from Collin Barker and Gavin Heimlich made the score 25-20. An 8-2 run followed, giving Otterbein its largest lead of the night at 33-22, but Wilmington would trail by just four (43-39) at halftime as Bryce Bird stole a pass and hit a three-pointer with less than 10 seconds left.
Wilmington flipped the script in the second half as it held Otterbein to just six points in the first minute minutes. During that time, the Quakers scored 16 of their own capped by a Domenic Farley jumper to make the score 55-49. The Cardinals would get as close as a point, but couldn't ever equalize. The hosts did provide some late drama, however, as after a Cam Evans jumper got the Cardinals within two at 74-72, Wilmington missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Fortunately for the visitors, Evans' triple try was off the mark, and two Gavin Heimlich free throws sealed the victory.
I love coaching this group, not just on the good days, but all the days," Mills said. "Tonight, our team showed how resilient they are, how coachable they are and how bought in they are to what we are trying to build. I couldn't be more proud."
Both sides shot over 40 percent from the field, over 35 percent from distance and made exactly 17 free throws. The Quakers, who won the rebounding battle 32-28, made 27-of-55 (49.1 percent) from the floor and 17-of-22 (77.3 percent) from the charity stripe.
Individually, Wilmington utilized a balanced scoring attack as five Quakers - Izaiah Cathey, Bird, Kanu, Heimlich and Matthew Dugue - all scored between 11-16 points with Cathey's 16 on 7-of-8 shooting leading the way. Kanu finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks while Heimlich had 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
A trio of Cardinals - Dallas Patrick, Evans and Jared Kreager - finished in double figures with Patrick's 19 points leading all scorers.
Wilmington (8-16, 4-13 OAC) will close out its 2022-23 season by hosting nationally-ranked John Carroll University on Saturday. Tip-off for the Senior Day contest is scheduled for 2 p.m.
