(ALLIANCE, Ohio) – The Wilmington College men's basketball team picked up a huge victory Saturday afternoon on the road in their Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener. They took down the reigning OAC champions and #4 ranked University of Mount Union Purple Raiders 80-79.
The Quakers used a 6-0 run over the final 2:34 to win the game after trailing 79-74. Domenic Farley scored four points in those final minutes, while Jayden Lewis delivered the final blow on a running jumper with just five seconds remaining.
Wilmington got off to a fast start in the game, scoring 26 points less than 12 minutes into the contest and leading 26-17. Eight different players scored during this initial run, showing off the Quakers depth. The Purple Raiders showed why they are a highly ranked team, scratching and clawing their way back to a 40-40 tie with 2:11 remaining in the first half.
However, the Quakers didn't blink and pushed their lead back to five at the half with a 9-4 run making it 49-44 heading into the locker room. Farley scored five points during this final stretch and hit a big three with two seconds remaining to give the Quakers a lot of momentum heading into the second half.
A basket from Lewis and Gavin Heimlich opened up the scoring for Wilmington in the second half and pushed their lead back out to nine at 53-44. Mount Union calmly scored nine straight points over the span of around four minutes to tie the game back up at 53-53 with 15:14 to play. Neither team would gather a large lead for the rest of the game.
The Purple Raiders continued their rally and pushed out to a five-point lead at 63-58 with 11:41 left. Wilmington punched back and cut it to one after a 10-6 spurt left it at 69-68. Rashid Chisholm had five points during this flurry.
Mount Union would eventually take their 79-74 lead. A pair of jumpers from Farley pushed it to 79-78 and a missed jumper by the Purple Raiders gave Wilmington the ball back with 23 seconds remaining. Out of a timeout, Farley passed it to Lewis, who nearly had it stolen away at mid court, but kept it alive. He ran up to the free throw line and beat the defense for a wide-open shot that he buried to give the Quakers an 80-79 lead. A timeout followed and the Purple Raiders had five seconds to put something together. The worst possible thing followed for Mount Union as their player coming in to take the ball off the inbounds pass slipped and fell, knocking the ball out of play with his hand, turning it over and securing the Quakers victory.
Head Coach Micah Mills Quotes
"The guys played with a collective team effort all day. From guys that got one minute to zero minutes to 25 minutes, everyone was fighting for the team. That's when sports are fun!
To go into Mount Union or anywhere in the OAC and win is a full day's work and today our guys were here for the work. Dom led us all night long with his attacking mentality!
To have a senior like Jayden Lewis be ready to step up and make plays down the stretch is really special to see.
Super proud of the effort today and pulling out the win, but we aren't going to shy away from the fact that we have more work to do, and we are here for it."
Notables
- Domenic Farley led Wilmington with a career-high 24 points. He also led the team with eight rebounds and six assists.
- Jayden Lewis scored 11 points on 5-8 shooting, including his game-winning shot.
- The Quakers shot 51.6% from the field (33-64), 50.0% from the three-point line (5-10) and 81.8% from the free-throw line (9-11). Their three-point and free-throw percentages are their best of the season.
- This is the first win for Wilmington over Mount Union since a 103-90 triumph on January 28th, 2017, at home.
- It is their first win in Alliance since an 88-87 nail biter on January 10th, 2015. That contest also came down to a game-winning bucket, with Jonathan Bibbs converting a layup with 16 seconds remaining and the defense bringing home the win.
- This is Mount Union's first regular season home loss since February 9th, 2022, against Marietta College.
- It's their first home loss altogether since their opening game of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, where they dropped an 84-74 game to Stevens Institute of Technology on March 4th, 2022.
- The Purple Raiders went 17-0 at home during the 2022-23 season.
What's Up Next
The Quakers are back in Hermann Court next Saturday for a matchup with another solid OAC squad in the Marietta College Pioneers at 2:00 P.M. The Pioneers are currently ranked as the #19 team in the country.
