Lakewood, N.J.- For the first time in the seven-year history of the Georgian Court University men's basketball program, the Lions have punched a ticket to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship Tournament after clinching a berth with Wednesday night's 76-71 divisional home victory over Wilmington University.

In front a of a raucous crowd of 300+, the two foes put on a 40-minute thriller consisting of back-and-forth action. The Lions opened the affair with a 9-0 run that the Wildcats snuffed out with a 9-1 spurt of its own. With the score knotted at 10-10 at the 14:23 mark, GCU and Wilmington proceeded to provide four lead changes and a pair of stalemates over the remainder of the stanza to enter intermission all square at 32-32.

It would be more of the same in the second as no less than three ties and eight lead changes would occur before a Matt Ringel layup snapped a 65-65 score at 5:43 to provide the royal-and-gold a lead they would not relinquish. Jelani Jackson hit the front end of pair of free throw attempts with only 0:44 left to increase the GCU cushion to six at 74-68.

Five Lions netted double-digits in the scoring column, led by junior Davon Floyd and his personal season-high of 21 points. The junior transfer hit 6-of-17 from the floor (including three three-pointers) while clearing the glass of nine rebounds. Alonzo Ortiz-Traylor tallied 14 points in the victory (four three-pointers) while Kim Speller dropped in 13 of his own.

The aforementioned Ringel hit for 12 points in 14 minutes off the GCU bench while Jackson rang up 11 points for the Lions.

Danny Walsh (RJr.-Bear, Del.) paced the visitors with his 23 points and five three-pointers in 40 minutes of action. Jermaine Head (RSr.-Edgewood, Md.), who entered the contest needing seven points to become the all-time leading scorer in Wilmington men's basketball history, eclipsed the milestone late in the first half before finishing the game with 19 overall. Kameron Cooper (Jr.-Gainesville, Va.) added 14 points in 25 minutes off the bench.

Wilmington (10-17, 8-10 CACC), despite the setback, clinched a playoff berth of its own, thanks to a loss by Holy Family University.

Georgian Court  (9-16, 7-11 CACC) concludes the 2019-20 regular season Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. home contest vs. Felician University (12-14, 10-8 CACC).