(HARRISONBURG, Va.) – Four starters scored in double figures to help Wilson win a defensive battle with hosting Eastern Mennonite on Saturday. Included in that quartet was
Rick Godwin Jr. (Sr., Largo, Md. / Largo / Southern Maryland) who hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to provide the winning margin as the game came down to a last second shot.
The Basics
Score: Wilson 52, Eastern Mennonite 50
Venue: Yoder Arena
Records: Wilson 5-4, Eastern Mennonite 3-7
How It Happened
- Neither team led by more than three possessions in the entire game with the largest lead of the night belonging to the Royals who took a seven-point lead after Aviwe Mahlong hit a 3-pointer to make the score 40-33 with 12:20 to go in the game. It capped a 10-0 run, their largest of the night.
- Wilson slowly chipped away at the deficit and limited Eastern Mennonite's opportunities the rest of the way and eventually tied the game on a Godwin 3-pointer that put the score even at 46-all with 4:28 remaining in the game.
- After a pair of Royals free throws and a jumper by Darryl Garib (Sr., Dallas, Texas / Forest Park), the Phoenix took their first lead since 16:18 of the second half when Garib found Antonio Bussey (Sr., Aiken, S.C. / Aiken / Claflin) for an alley-oop dunk with 61 seconds left.
- Eastern Mennonite was able to tie it up with a couple of foul shots with 21 second to go. After a timeout, Garib again found the open man as a wide-open Godwin cut down the right baseline for a backdoor cut. Godwin was fouled on the shot attempt, but calmly sank both free throws to put the score at 52-50 with eight seconds left.
- Down to one last shot, the Royals looked for a game-winning 3-pointer, but strong defense by Gary Robertson (Jr., Washington D.C. / Potomac / Bryant and Stratton) forced an off-balanced attempt from the right wing that hit the front end of the iron and back towards midcourt as time expired.
Inside The Numbers
- Garib led all scorers with 17 points and came away with his fifth double-double of the season after he pulled down 10 rebounds.
- He wasn't the only one with a double-double as Bussey accomplished the fete as well with 10 points and 12 caroms.
- Also scoring in double figures were Godwin and Robertson who tallied 10 points each.
- Eastern Mennonite's bench outscored Wilson's 18-2, but the Phoenix defense did well to shut down the Royals' starting five. Only one was able to score in double figures with Mahlong leading the hosts with 11 points.
- Wilson controlled the glass by a 41-32 margin. In addition to Bussey and Garib, Jordan Miles (Sr., Waldorf, Md. / Westlake) and Marcus Stephens (Gr., Goldsboro, N.C. / C.D. Hylton) did well underneath with five boards each.
- Wilson did have the height advantage and worked the inside the full 40 minutes. With only two 3-pointers on the evening, the Phoenix outscored the Royals 34-18 inside the paint.
Up Next
Wilson will have all next week to concentrate on finals as it doesn't compete again until Tuesday, December 20, when the Phoenix head to Immaculata. Tip-off with the Mighty Macs is set for 2 p.m.
