Wesley Wins Season Opener
DOVER, Del. - Junior Rudy Thomas (Milton, Del./Sussex Tech) exploded for a career-high 29 points and dished out seven assists as Wesley picked up a 90-73 win over North Carolina Wesleyan.
The Battling Bishops (0-1) jumped out to an 11-2 lead early in the game, but the Wolverines (1-0) fought back and tied the game at 15-15 on a lay up by Quayshun Morris (Salem, N.J./Salem), then took the lead with a free throw by Paul Reynolds (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) with 12:14 left in the half.
The remainder of the half was a see-saw battle that featured 12 ties and lead changes. North Carolina Wesleyan went into the locker room with a 33-31 lead after Jarmel Arrington scored with seven seconds left in the half.
The second half opened with more of the same, as the teams tied or the lead changed eight more times in the first 5:13 of the half. With 14:27 left in the game, however, Jacques Bowe (Millsboro, Del./Sussex Tech) grabbed an offensive rebound and hit Kevin Johnson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) for a three that gave Wesley the lead for good.
Justin Griffith hit a jumper with 9:27 to go in the game that pulled the Battling Bishops to within six at 56-50, but a layup by Carl Hinton (Georgetown, Del./Sussex Central) 19 seconds later started a 16-5 run that built the lead to 72-55 after a three by Thomas with under five minutes to play.
Thomas hit 7-of-16 field goals in the game and went 11-of-13 from the foul line and 4-of-11 from beyond the arc. When he was not scoring, he was setting up his teammates for a game-high seven assists.
Morris had an excellent debut for Wesley, scoring 16 points in 18 minutes off the bench. He hit 6-of-8 field goals and 3-of-5 from three point range. Fellow freshman David Langan (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds as the Wolverines won the battle on the glass 37-35.
Johnson scored 12 of his 14 in the second half.
Lamont Stokes hit 7-of-11 shots and four threes to lead North Carolina Wesleyan with 23 points. Trey Drake added 16 points, while Jarmel Arrington had 11 points and six boards.
Wesley forced the Battling Bishops into 22 turnovers, while committing just 13 on the day.
The Wolverines are idle until traveling to the Don Glick/BC Basketball Classic at Bridgewater (Va.) on November 21-22.
