Charlotte, NC – The Wildcats (4-7) took to the court Tuesday evening in their first home game after Fall Break. JWU hosted the Pride of Greensboro College (2-5) in a game that proved to be hard fought by both teams.
The Pride would open the game with a Tracy Jester 3 pointer to quickly take the lead. Jester scored the first 7 pride points, giving GC a 2 point advantage over the first six minutes of the game. GC would then go on an 8-1 run extending their lead to 13-6. Back to back jump shots from DeQuincey Bennett kept the Wildcats in shouting distance, but JWU would not be able to sustain that momentum. The Pride would roll into halftime leading by 13 at 39-26.
The second half would start similar to the first with a GC 6-0 run to give them their largest lead of the night, 45-26. The Wildcats responded with a 10-2 run of their own. Trailing by 13 at the 7:29 mark, the Wildcats reeled off a 15-4 run to pull within four at 67-63. That proved to be the turning point in the game.. The Pride used a Jester 3 pointer to go up by 7, 75-68 with 1:16 left. JWU rallied with a 8-1 run, capped off by a Nick Crawford steal and layup, to tie the score at 76, and send the game into overtime.
The Pride's Damian Dixon scored the first three points of overtime, but back-to-back Bennett 3 pointers sandwiched a Pride free throw to give JWU their first lead in the game at 82-80. The Wildcats scored 5 of the next 7 points to build their largest lead of the game with 1:40 left. GC answered quickly, tying the game at 87 just 18 seconds later. The Wildcats finished the game strong, converting 4 free throw attempts and another Crawford layup to hold on for the 93-90 win, the program's second ever over an NCAA D-III team.
The Wildcats were led by DeQuincey Bennett with 27 points and 5 rebounds. Kindrick Anderson and Crawford added 24 and 21 points, respectively. Crawford also tallied 11 rebounds, while Duane Chisholm grabbed 8 boards.
This was the first ever home court overtime game for the Wildcats. JWU currently has a perfect 2-0 record in overtime games all-time.
The Wildcats will travel to Davidson College on Saturday, December 7th. Tip-off is set for 5:30pm.
