WATERBURY, Conn. - - For the second time this season, Post storms back and stuns the Wilmington University men's basketball team in the final seconds, this time in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament First Round on Tuesday night inside the Drubner Center.
A deadball turnover with 5.8 seconds remaining gave the North Division's No. 2 seed Post the ball. The Eagle's Bol Akot drove the lane, was bumped, and converted the three-point play with 1.7 seconds to play, giving the hosts the 79-77 lead over the South Division's No. 3 seed Wildcats. Skip Burton's half court heave was off the backboard and off the inside of the rim, giving the Eagles the win.
With the win, the Eagles advance to the CACC Tournament Semifinals and will face the South Division's No. 1 seed Jefferson. The Rams defeated Felician to advance to the Semifinals. The loss ends the Wildcats' season with a 16-13 overall record and back-to-back winning seasons.
The Wildcats started fast, racing out to a 10-2 lead with three-pointers by Caleb Matthews and Taalib Holloman. Another 7-0 run gave the Wildcats a 19-13 lead with 12:50 to play in the first half but the Eagles fought all the way back and eventually took a 24-23 lead. Trailing 29-28, the Wildcats scored seven straight again, using a Caleb Matthews fade away in the late to take a 25-29 lead with 5:14 to play. But again, the Eagles answered back, getting to within a single point multiple times before scoring the final bucket of the half to take a 42-41 lead into the break.
Nalik Veasley put in back-to-back buckets to start an 8-0 run, taking a 52-45 lead in the early going of the second half. A Matthews layup matched the largest lead for the Wildcats, 61-53, with 12:47 to play, and the Wildcats held onto the lead deep into the contest.
The Eagles cut the deficit to a single point with a three-point play, 73-72, with 2:15 to play. After a missed jumper by the Wildcats, the Eagles came down and made a tough layup, taking their first lead, 74-73, for the first time since 18:23 on the clock.
Taalib Holloman collected an offensive rebound and put the layup back in to give the Wildcats the 75-74 lead with 45 seconds to play. A Post miss and two free throws by Amiri Stewart put the Wildcats up three. Post missed their attempt, but a loose ball foul put the Eagles on the line for two with five seconds to play. Then a deadball foul on the inbounds play gave the ball back to Post, and Bol Akot took care of the rest.
Caleb Matthews led the Wildcats with a game-high 23 points and five rebounds. Taalib Holloman scored 21 points to go with six rebounds while Amiri Stewart had 18 points. Nalik Veasley scored nine points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Wildcats led for 33:33 of the 40 minutes in the game.