Orangeburg, N.Y. (2/27/18) The Dominican College Chargers men's basketball team hosted Wilmington University in the quarterfinal round of the 2018 CACC tournament. The Chargers went all the way to the final game of the 2017 CACC tournament last March where they fell to Bloomfield College. Dominican was coming off back to back losses to finish the 2017-2018 regular season. The Chargers finished in second place in the north division standings pf the CACC conference which awarded them a first round home game. Wilmington was looking to steal a first round road win to earn a trip to the semi-finals.

The Chargers jumped out to a double-digit lead just five minutes into the game by holding the Wildcats to just two points to start the game. For most of the first half, the Chargers held a good lead over the Wildcats. The Wildcats answered with a 15-5 run late in the first half to take the lead over the Chargers

The last four minutes went back and forth as the Chargers took a 30-29 lead into halftime. Daniel Grant (Middletown, N.Y.) led the Chargers with nine points in the first half and recorded two assists as well as one rebound. Sayon Charles (Staten Island, N.Y.) added seven points and two rebounds in the first half for the Chargers. Jonathan Garcia (Springfield, Mass.) led the team in rebounds in the first half with six and four of them coming on the offensive side for the Chargers. Dominican shot 40.7%from the field but struggled from three-point range by shooting 25% from deep.

Jermaine Head and Nick Richards led the Wildcats by scoring nine points each and Richards recorded six rebounds. Vincent Kent also pulled down six rebounds for the Wildcats. The Wildcats shot 32.3% from the field and 40% from three-point range. Wilmington made five of six free throw attempts for 83.3%.

Dominican was in full control in the second half by scoring 56 points for the entire half and never lost the lead. The Wildcats were held to just 28 points in the second half by only shooting 36% from the field and 20% from three-point range. From the nine-minute mark to the end of the game, the Chargers were in full control by outscoring Wilmington 33-9 to secure the 86-57 win. With the win, The Chargers now move on to the CACC semi-finals hosted by Jefferson University on Saturday.

Grant finished with 17 points while Charles finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Garcia finished with ten rebounds and Tyjon Gilmore (Watervliet, N.Y.) scored 13 points by adding three three-pointers. The Chargers finished shooting 48.5% from the field.

The Chargers will be back in action on Saturday for the CACC semi-final game as they look to earn their second trip to the finals in two years.