WILMINGTON — In a game tied 9 times with 17 lead changes, free throws were bound to make a difference.
And they did.
Wilmington hit 22 of 26 at the line while Capital made 13 of 29, the key component in the Fightin’ Quakers third straight win, 92-82, Wednesday night at Fred Raizk Arena at Hermann Court.
The win puts the Fightin’ Quakers 6-6 overall and 1-4 in the OAC. Capital drops to 8-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference.
Andrew Russell led all scorers with 29 points. The starting WC forward was 7 of 10 from the floor, including 5 of 7 beyond the arc, but more importantly 10 for 10 at the free throw line.
Nathan Scott hit 8 of 10 shots in his role off the bench and scored 20 points. In all, the Fightin’ Quakers bench players had 36 points while Capital could muster just 17 points from its bench.
“Those guys were awesome,” Wilmington head coach K.C. Hunt said of Russell and Scott. “They made shots; made some tough ones, but I have to give a lot of credit to our guards. We really did a great job of setting them up and finding them. They both had it going tonight, and we knew it as a team. I am proud of our team effort in that regard.”
Austin Schreck had 16 points and 14 rebounds for Capital. Joey Weingartner led CU with 23 points and Tyrel Jackson scored 18.
Early in the second half, Wilmington gained the advantage. However, Capital remained close and eventually grabbed a 70-68 lead with 6:28 to play.
A Kevin Lewis 3-pointer put WC on top for good just 19 seconds later.
Once on top, Wilmington never let up. The Fightin’ Quakers made 6 of 9 from the field and 9 of 9 at the line from that point on and did not relinquish the lead.
“I thought we did a nice job of getting to the line,” said Hunt. “I was proud of us, especially down the stretch – making ten or 12 in a row to close it out.
“It was a great team win. We had contributions up and down the lineup. We really took the challenge in the second half to seize control of the game by making plays, and getting timely stops.”
SUMMARY
January 4, 2017
@Fred Raizk Arena
Wilmington 92 Capital 82
C 42.40…..82
W 42.50…..92
(82) CAPITAL (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Boone 2-0-0-4 Jamison 2-0-0-4 Schreck 6-0-4-16 Weingartner 9-3-2-23 Jackson 6-4-2-18 Czuchran 0-0-0-0 Mitchell 0-0-1-1 Wildermuth 0-0-0-0 Hannah 1-0-1-3 Yahaya 5-0-3-13 Holaday 0-0-0-0 O’Neal 0-0-0-0 Cox 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 31-7-13-82
(92) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Russell 7-5-10-29 Chatman 2-0-2-6 C. Jones 1-1-4-7 Lewis 4-1-3-12 Iles 1-0-0-2 Patrick 1-1-0-3 J. Jones 1-0-0-2 Smith 1-0-0-2 Greene 0-0-3-3 Pittman 0-0-0-0 Moore 3-0-0-6 Scott 8-4-0-20. TOTALS 29-12-22-92
FIELD GOALS: C 31-60 (Weingartner 9-18 Schreck 6-10 Jackson 6-10); W 29-53 (Scott 8-10 Russell 7-10 Lewis 4-7 Moore 3-4)
3 PT FIELD GOALS: C 7-19 (Jackson 4-5); W 12-25 (Russell 5-7 Scott 4-6)
FREE THROWS: C 13-29; W 22-26 (Russell 10-10 C. Jones 4-4 Lewis 3-3 Chatman 2-2 Greene 3-4)
REBOUNDS: C-37 (Schreck 14); W-30 (Lewis 5 C. Jones 4 J. Jones 4 Chatman 3 Pittman 3 Scott 3 Moore 2)
ASSISTS: C-9; W-17 (C. Jones 5 Iles 4 Greene 3 Patrick 2 Lewis 2)
STEALS: C-4; W-5 (Patrick 2)
BLOCKED SHOTS: C-1; W-3
TURNOVERS: C-13; W-11
