Tigers Take Down Wilmington, 79-64; Take Over 1st Place in CACC South

BOX SCORE


Philadelphia, Pa. - The Holy Family University men's basketball team had five players score in double-figures as the Tigers defeated Wilmington University by the score of 79-64 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest Saturday afternoon at the Campus Center Gym.
 
Holy Family improves to 10-7 overall and 6-2 in conference play, while Wilmington falls to 4-13 overall and 4-5 in the CACC.  The Tigers have won four straight games, including five of their last six.  The win also moves the Tigers into sole possession of first place in the CACC South Division over the idle Philadelphia University (5-2 CACC). 
 
Junior Alberto Munoz (Morrisville, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) led all scorers with a game-high 18 points after connecting on 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.  With his 18-point performance, Munoz is now 26 points away from becoming the 22nd player in program history to reach the 1,000-career points milestone.  He currently has 974 points in his career.
 
Freshman Tuhran Griffin (Philadelphia, Pa./Franklin Learning Center) scored a career-high 15 points after shooting 5-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-4 from deep range.  Junior Ervin Ezell (Deptford, N.J./Deptford High) contributed 15 points and five assists, while sophomore Richard Council (New York, N.Y./Rice) added 11 points (4-5 FG) and five rebounds.   Senior Angel Ayala (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) also scored in double-figures as he finished with 10 points (5-9 FG).  Ayala also recorded five rebounds, four assists and a game-high four steals. 
 
For Wilmington, senior Brandon Fox led the team with 15 points after shooting 7-of-13 from the field.  He also tallied eight rebounds.  Fellow classmate Isiah Mason finished with nine points, while freshman Shai Henrey tallied a game-high ten rebounds.
 
Holy Family knocked down six three-pointers (6-11) in the first half to help fuel the team's double-digit halftime lead.  With the game tied at 12-12 at the 13:49 mark, Holy Family went on a 10-3 run to grab its biggest lead of the game thus far at 22-15.  A three-pointer by sophomore Eric Fleming (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) capped the Tigers' run. 
 
As the half progressed, Wilmingon came within one point of the Tigers' lead after a layup by sophomore Rashaun Rasheed made the score 25-24 with 5:53 remaining until halftime. 
 
From that point, Holy Family outscored the Wildcats 16-6 the rest of the half to take a double-digit lead heading into the locker rooms at halftime, 41-30. 
 
In the first half, Holy Family shot 55.6-percent from the field and 54.5-percent from beyond the arc.  The Tigers closed out the game shooting 46.7-percent and 41.7-percet (10-24) from deep range. 
 
Holy Family opened the second half on a 10-1 run to increase its lead to 20-points.  Freshman Isaiah Gans (Philadelphia, Pa./Redemption Christian Academy), who blocked two shots in the game, split a pair of free throws to make the score 51-31. 
 
The Tigers would go on to lead by as many as 27 points late in the half after a layup basket by Ayala made the score 73-46.  Wilmington would go on to cut the Tigers' lead to 15-points in the final minutes, however the game was pretty much decided as the Tigers went on to victory.
 
The Holy Family defense held Wilmington to 37.7-percent shooting from the field and forced 22 turnovers, including 12 in the second half. 
 
Wilmington went on to knock down eight three-pointers (8-18) and held a slim edge in rebounding as the Wildcats grabbed 38 boards to the Tigers' 37 rebounds. 
 
Holy Family is back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 23 as the Tigers travel to face Chestnut Hill College in a CACC contest.  Game time is slated for 8 p.m.

 
  - HFU -