Wilmington derails Reading 102-98

[LightningMan]

After last night's lackluster performance (as well as last night's lackluster crowd) against an energized opponent, the last thing Wilmington wanted was a repeat performance, but early on it seemed that was exactly what they were going to get. Reading was out-quicking the Sea Dawgs and blew out to an early first quarter sizable lead. And Wilmington front court was getting no love from the refs. But it was that very fact that turned the crowd and the Sea Dawgs on. After a brutal series under the basket where reserve center Bruce Brown was pummeled but still managed to get the ball up and into the hoop only to have the bucket waived off for a traveling call, the Sea Dawgs and their crowd found the energy and took off, almost erasing the entire deficit by the end of the half. The Sea Dawgs took the lead in the third quarter and pushed it out to double digits, only to find the hustling Railers closing it back down by the middle of the fourth. With less than two minutes to play the Railers got the lead down to three and then to two, but Wilmington (by now in the bonus) kept making their free throws, including two with just eleven seconds left to play, to preserve the four point victory.

The game was rather tightly refereed (and to the crowd relatively one sidedly) but in the end what my dad always told me was true: if you score more points than the other guy, there's nothing the ref can do.

With the win Wilmington retains their lead in the Eastern Division.