WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College men’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a double-digit halftime deficit in a 76-66 Ohio Athletic Conference defeat to Otterbein University at Fred Raizk Arena Wednesday evening.
For Wilmington, Jeffery Mansfield flirted with a triple-double despite fouling out, scoring 22 points to go along with nine rebounds and eight assists in just over 31 minutes played.
Prior to the game, Mansfield was presented a gameball for becoming the 28th play in WC men’s basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. He reached the milestone on Dec. 4, 2021. Mansfield has 1,282 career points.
Wilmington finished 21-of-61 (34.4 percent), but made just 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) from distance. The Quakers made 19 free throws and held a slim 35-33 edge in rebounding.
The Quakers close out the 2021-22 regular season at John Carroll University 4 p.m. Saturday.
The Fightin’ Quakers opened Wednesday’s game on a 7-2 run that began with a Bryce Bird three and ended with an old-fashioned, three-point play from Mansfield. The Cardinals, who are in the midst of their best season in a decade, answered with a 17-2 run over a four-minute span, to take a 19-11 lead.
Otterbein stayed hot from long distance and grew its lead to 30-15 with 6:23 to play in the half. Anthony Freeman connected on consecutive threes from the baseline with the later being part a rare four-point play to make it 36-29.
Otterbein ended the half on a 9-2 run capped by an acrobatic tip-in from Alex Hannah and it was 45-31 Cardinals at halftime.
Wilmington put together an 8-0 run that included four points from Dado (who had 14 points and 11 rebounds) to make it a six-point game at the 7:43 mark. That’s as close as Wilmington would get, however, as Otterbein held on to earn its first win in Fred Raizk Arena since Feb. 19, 2011.
