Charlotte, NC - Johnson & Wales Charlotte men's basketball fell to Trinity Baptist 77-75 in their final game of the 2022 calendar year.

The Wildcats got off to a good start, leading 21-11 following a Zyrion Wilkins three pointer with 12:22 left in the first half. It was one of three first half three pointers that Wilkins hit in the game. JWU held an advantage for the rest of the period, and led by 8 with 2:04 to play before the Eagles closed with an 8-0 run to trim the lead to just 1, 37-36 at the half. 

The eagles continued their spurt out of the locker room, scoring the first 10 points of the second half to build a nine point advantage at 46-37. JWU responded with a run of their own, 12-1 over the next 4:15, keyed by 5 points from JC Cooper. The game was nip and tuck from that point until Trinity Baptist went up by 7 on three Ian Kanady free throws with 3:32 left. JWU trimmed the lead to 2 on back-to-back threes from Fred Patterson and Anthoney Ray in the final thirty seconds, but could get no closer.

Ray led the Wildcats with 17 points, while Wilkins and Cooper had 16 points apiece off the bench. Jaylen Benson-Hollinhead had 8 points and 12 rebounds, while DJ Williams had 8 points and 5 assists.

The Wildcats are next in action on January 11th, 2023 when they travel to Bluefield State for a 7:00pm game.