BEREA - Four players reached double figures as the Wilmington men's basketball team recorded its first DIvision III road victory of the season, beating Ohio Athletic Conference preseason favorite Baldwin-Wallace Monday, 87-74.

"Any time you can win a game on the road in this league, especially against a good team like BW, it's a good win," said Wilmington head coach K.C. Hunt. "Our preparation was so much better which is why we played better."

The game was moved from Saturday due to inclement weather and dangerous travel.
Senior Klarke Ransome (Richwood, OH/North Union) and junior R.J. Leppert (Liberty Twp., OH/Lakota East) each scored a team-high 17 points. All of Ransome's 17 points came in the second half as Wilmington outscored the Yellow Jackets by 13 points in the final 20 minutes. He was 7-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in tallying his second-half point total.

"Klarke made big shot after big shot for us," said Hunt. "We did a good job of drawing his man, and it was nice to see him be a willing shooter.

"We played with more urgency in getting to their shooters," Hunt continued about the second half push. "It was a better mental approach and better team defensive approach."

Ransome scored seven of the Fightin' Quakers' 15 points during an 15-3 run that gave WC its first double-figure lead of the game.

A three-point play by BW with a little over seven minutes remaining allowed the Yellow Jackets to trim WC's lead down to six points. The teams traded scoring possessions over the next three minutes, and the Wilmington lead was back to double figures following a three-point play from senior Christian Patterson (Cincinnati, OH/Norwood) with 4:35 remaining.

Ransome then delivered the knockout blows with back-to-back three-pointers and the Wilmington lead was 14 with two minutes to go.

Senior Malcolm Heard (Wilmington, OH/Wilmington) added 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Senior Ben McGriff (Beavercreek, OH/Beavervcreek) recorded a career-high 12 points off the bench as Hunt credited the play of his reserves as they outscored their counterparts 26-8. Freshman Law Williams (Dayton, OH/Thurgood Marshall) added a career-high nine points.

Wilmington (4-3 overall, 2-1 OAC) steps away from OAC action when they travel to Grand Rapids, MI for the Hope College Tournament. The Fightin' Quakers kick off the tournament 6 p.m. Friday against #3 Illinois Wesleyan.