DOVER, Del. – Wesley College's 14th-ranked men's basketball team rallied from a 11 point second half deficit to defeat Salisbury University, 68-62 in a Capital Athletic Conference matchup on Wednesday night at Wentworth Gymnasium. Winners of seven-straight, the Wolverines are now 12-1 overall and 5-1 in the CAC.
Wesley narrowly outshot the Sea Gulls, 44% to 43% but 13 offensive rebounds led to 17 second chance points. The Wolverines also turned 16 Salisbury turnovers into 14 points and dominated inside with 32 points coming in the paint.
David Langan led Wesley with 18 points along with eight rebounds and two blocks while Brandin Youngblood added 15 with three 3-pointers. AJ Tilghman chipped in with 11 points and four assists off the bench and Wayne Lennon pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and blocked three shots.
Trailing, 43-32 with 16:46 left in regulation after Salisbury went on a 10-2 run, Wesley quickly responded with nine-straight points coming from its senior trio of Langan, Eric Selby (7 points, 4 assists) and Youngblood to cut the deficit to a single basket just over two minutes later.
Back-to-back Sea Gull field goals extended the lead back to six but after a triple by Youngblood tied the score for the fourth time at 53 with 9:45 left, Tilghman made three consecutive free throws to give Wesley its first lead of the game at 56-53 with 7:53 left to play.
Lennon then put back a missed layup to extend the advantage to five points but Salisbury would not go down quietly, clawing back to a one point game at 61-60 with 2:53 left. Anthony Bowers (6 points) then hit a triple and Langan converted on a three-point play the old fashioned way to put the Wolverines on top by five once again with 1:23 remaining to seal the victory.
No. 16 St. Mary's plays host to Wesley on Saturday, January 18 at 4 pm.