WILDCATS SHUT DOWN COUGARS TO EARN SWEEP

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NEW CASTLE, Del. - Despite 20 points and 14 rebounds from sophomore forward Manny Perez (Egg Harbor, NJ/Egg Harbor), the Caldwell College men's basketball team lost to Wilmington College, 81-69 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game Saturday afternoon at the Pratt Center. The defeat dropped the Cougars to 14-12 on the season and 10-8 in the CACC, while the Wildcats, who beat Caldwell 78-70 on Dec. 10, improved to 4-19 overall and 4-14 in the conference.

The first half remained close, with seven lead changes and six ties. With the score tied at 28-28 with 3:47 to go in the half, Wilmington's Chris Rogers scored all eight points in an 8-2 run to close out the first period with the Wildcats leading 36-30. Rogers led all scorers with 14 points in the game's first 20 minutes.

After Rogers opened the second half with another jumper, junior guard Jean Georges (Vauxhal, NJ/Spotwood) buried a three-pointer to make the score 38-33. The Cougars would come to within five points of the Wildcats five times before a free throw by senior forward Teren Scudder (Paterson, NJ/Paterson Catholic) cut the lead to three, 50-47 with 11:37 remaining. But Rogers struck for seven points in a 10-0 Wildcat run that put Wilmington up 60-47 with just under nine minutes to play. The Cougars never came closer than eight points the rest of the way, as the Wildcats wrapped up their fourth win of the season.

The Wildcats shot the ball well in the second half, making 60.0 percent from the floor compared to 40.6 percent for Caldwell.

Perez's double-double was his third of the season and second in four games. Perez, who scored a career-high 34 points in Thursday's 85-68 win at Post University, now has 924 points in his career to rank 14th all-time at Caldwell. Georges finished with 14 points and four steals, while sophomore guard Adam Sabree (Detroit, MI/Renaissance), pictured, scored a season-best 11 points. Rogers recorded a game-high 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field to pace Wilmington.

Caldwell is back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 14, when the Cougars play at Nyack College. Game time is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.

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