WILMINGTON — Earlham College outscored Wilmington 14-6 in the final three minutes of regulation and claimed victory in the “Quaker Bowl” Rivalry 79-76 at Fred Raizk Arena Monday night.
Chainey Zolman drilled a three-pointer from the top of the circle with 10 seconds to go and hit the ensuing free throw to convert the four-point play putting the visitors on top 77-76. Earlham’s Blake Bonin added two more free throws to extend the lead with 4.8 seconds remaining.
Wilmington’s last second shot, a corner three-point attempt by Jeffery Mansfield hit the back iron and bounced away as the horn sounded.
Earlham’s victory snapped a three-game Wilmington winning streak in the rivalry. Earlham is 3-2 overall, while Wilmington is 1-3. This was Wilmington’s home opener.
In a losing cause, Mansfield topped all scorers with 25 points, which included 18 in the first half. DaeShawn Jackson added 16 for Wilmington and Abdul Kanu scored 15.
Wilmington held a 41-35 halftime advantage but Earlham kept it close and eventually tied the score at 50-50 on a Zolman layup with 15:49 to go in the second half.
The score also was tied at 53 and again at 59 before Zolman’s trey in the closing seconds. Zolman led Earlham with 17 points, followed by Kenneth Stallings with 16 and Jamel Barnes added 12.
Earlham made its second half comeback on the strength of strong shooting (17 of 32 for 53 percent), and converted 50 percent of its attempts beyond the three-point arc (10 for 20), with non-starter Thomas Sanborn connecting from long distance four times.
Wilmington shot the ball well, making 28 of 54 shots, and Wilmington was 10 of 25 beyond the arc.
Wilmington out-rebounded Earlham, 36-26. Jackson and Colin Myers had six rebounds each for WC. Wilmington turned the ball over 16 times, including nine in the second half. Earlham converted those turnovers into 24 points. Earlham only turned the ball over six times the entire game, which Wilmington converted into nine points.
