Big second half powers Wilmington University to 77-75 victory over Bridgeport

Photo by Bailey Burton on Unsplash

The Wilmington University men’s basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 77-75 comeback win over the University of Bridgeport Purple Knights on Saturday.

Junior guard Justin Perez led the team in scoring in the win with 18 points.

Four other Wilmington players who scored in double digits in the win were Freshman forward Tre Hawkins (10), Graduate student guard Manir Waller (13), Freshman guard Denim Perkins (11), and Jaylin Horsey  (17).

WilmU had the advantage in multiple categories in the game, including fast-break points (22-20) and turnovers (19-24), blocks (5-4).

Wilmington University also had the advantage in shooting, with the team shooting 42.6%(26-61) and Bridgeport shooting 40.5%(30-74). The Wildcats were also the better team at the three-point line in this game, as the team shot 26.9% (7-26), and the Purple Knights shot 14.3%(3-21) WilmU also bested Bridgeport at the free-throw line in this game, as the team shot 75.0%(18-24), and the Purple Knights shot 48.0%(12-25).

Related:

 Jaylin Horsey scores 17 points in Wilmington University’s 81-74 victory over California (Pa.)

Game Recap:

Wilmington University trails by 13 at the end of the first half.

Bridgeport had no problems finding the basket as soon as the game tipped off by running out to a 9-0 edge with 17:33 remaining in the opening period.

Fast forward to the 3:27 minute mark, where the Purple Knights would continue to add to their lead when Amadou Traore hit a layup to push their advantage to 15 (35-20).

Bridgeport would score ten more points for the rest of the opening period to take a 45-32 edge into halftime.

The Wildcats take home a 77-75 win!

Wilmington University started to find a rhythm in the early minutes of the second half. The team outscored the Purple Knights 22-13 to cut the deficit to four points (58-54) with 11:31 remaining in the game. Manir Waller, Justin Perez, and Freshman guard Jaylin Horsey were firing all on cylinders during that run, scoring 20 of the team’s 22 points.

Fast-forward to the 8:21-minute mark, when the Wildcats found a spark and rode it all the way to the end. The team went on a 21-9 run to seal a 77-75 comeback win over Bridgeport. Perez, Denim Perkins, and Tre Hawkins gave the Purple Knights defense problems down the stretch scoring 19 of the team’s 21 points.