NEWARK, Del. (Jan. 10, 2023) - Georgian Court Men's Basketball and Wilmington put on one of the more entertaining games of the year Tuesday night in Newark. The Lions got down early, but after reclaiming the lead with 12:12 left to play, never gave it back, holding on for a 93-86 win. The win puts the Lions at 9-6 on the season and 5-1 in the CACC. 

How it Happened
• Both teams were lights out from the floor as Georgian Court shot 60.8% for the game and 54.5% from three. Wilmington did most of their damage inside. They were 55.4% shooting overall but just 5-19 from behind the arc. The teams had nearly identical numbers at the foul line with the Lions going 19-24 and the Wildcats 19-25.
• Of the Wildcats 86 points, 46 of those came in the paint. 
• In a game without many rebounds, GCU led in that category 27-24.
• The Lions got major contributions with 37 bench points. Wilmington relied more on their starting five. Just 14 points came from their bench.
• The way both teams were shooting, turnovers were costly. The turnover number was down, 11 for GCU and nine for Wilmington, but the Lions converted those turnovers to 13 points and the Wildcats scored 19 off Lion giveaways. 
• It was a hot-shooting first half as both squads were better than 60% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. Georgian Court also sunk 7-of-13 from behind the arc.
• Jamaal Waters got things started with a dunk on the first possession of the game, but that was the last time the Lions led in the half.
• Wilmington quickly scored nine straight points and at the 17:45 minute mark, the Wildcats were up 9-2.
• The entire half was a series of runs. Georgian Court brought the lead down to three, 11-8 and 18-15 getting consecutive three's from Cameron Edmonds, but Wilmington responded with a 9-1 run taking their largest lead, 27-16.
• That's when things took off on a frenetic pace through the end of the half. Shane Williams went back-to-back from distance to pull within one, 33-32, and Clint Wright, Jr. did the same at 36-35. Wilmington never gave up the lead in the half and took a three-point edge, 43-40, into the locker room.
• Trailing by four, 47-43, Waters made it a two-point game with a layup, and Cameron Edmonds gave the Lions their first lead since 2-0 with his third three-pointer of the game, 48-47, with 16:26 left to play.
• The teams traded the lead a couple of times before Hassan Jackson's jumper at the 12:12 mark put GCU back in front 58-56.
• They pushed that lead to six, 69-63, but a flagrant foul on Waters allowed Wilmington to get closer. The Wildcats hit both free throws and made a layup on the ensuing possession and with 8:06 left it was a two-point game, 69-67.
• The lead hung around one possession until the end. Edmonds and Williams each hit three pointers to push a two-point lead to five. With the Lions up five, Wilmington scored four straight to get to within one, 83-82, with just 2:06 remaining.
• Under two minutes to play it was Jelani Jackson's time. He collected an offensive rebound and finished an acrobatic layup to give GCU some breathing room, 85-82. After the Wildcats missed on their next possession, Jackson sealed it burying a corner three to put the Lions up 88-82. The Lions went 5-6 at the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to come away with a 93-86 win.

It Was Over When...
• With under a minute to play and up by three, Jelani Jackson put the finishing touches on the game swishing a three right in front of the Lions bench to put GCU up six, 88-82, with 35 seconds left.

Lions Stat Leaders
• Jamaal Waters led GCU going 7-10 from the floor and 6-8 at the line for 20 points.
• Cameron Edmonds didn't miss from three going 4-4 for 19 points.
• Clint Wright, Jr. scored 17 with four assists.
• Jalen Bates scored six points with five rebounds and eight assists.
• Jelani Jackson chipped in 15 and Shane Williams scored 11. 

For the Wildcats
• Amiri Stewart scored 20 points, all in the second half.
• Randy Rickards was 7-10 for 19 points.
• Jordan Jackson and Taalib Holloman each added 10.
• Justin Thomas added 13 points with five boards. 

News and Notes
• The win gives the Lions nine for the season, tying a program-best.
• GCU improves upon their program record winning their fourth straight road game.
• Clint Wright Jr. becomes the sixth Lion to score 700 career points. 
• The Lions 93 points are their most in a game since also scoring 93 against then-Nyack, January 4, 2020. 
• GCU's 60.8% field goal percentage and 54.5% three-point percentage are also season-highs. The field goal percentage is also a new single-game high for Georgian Court.
• The game had the billing of a defensive battle, with both teams among the defensive leaders in the CACC. GCU led the league in opponent points per game in conference play and Wilmington was in the top-three in the league in both opponent field goal percentage and opponent three-point percentage. 

Up Next
• Georgian Court heads back home as they play host to Caldwell Saturday, Jan. 14 with a 2 p.m. tipoff time following the Lion and Cougar women.