WASHINGTON, MO – The run is over, and so are the careers of five seniors as the Wilmington College men's basketball team fell 100-69 to No. 2 Washington University in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament Friday at the Washington University Field House.

"I think this group of guys believed we could come in here and win," said Wilmington head coach K.C. Hunt. "Obviously, we ran into a buzz saw tonight. We just didn't make enough plays, especially early in the game. I thought they came out here and punched us in the mouth in the first three minutes. We made a little bit of a recovery, but we just didn't have the desperate effort you need to have for 40 minutes in a game like this."

Ultimately it came down to the Bears' ability to attack the glass and the paint, and then start nailing shots from beyond the arc. Washington finished with 42 points in the paint, and won the battle on the glass 39-30, and shot 50 percent (11-of-22) from three-point range. They also took advantage of 19 WC turnovers to score 24 points.

Fouls also played a part in Wilmington's difficulties at the Field House. Seniors Taylor Wellman (Norwood, OH/Norwood) and Malcolm Heard II (Wilmington, OH/Wilmington) spent extended minutes on the bench in foul trouble, including during the Bears' 11-2 run that enabled them to seize control.

"I thought foul trouble was huge," said Hunt. "We had stretches of multiple guys, who are big-minute guys, on the bench; and that never bodes well for your basketball team. When we did get back in the game, you have to tip your hat to WashU, they made every shot they looked at."  

Wilmington came out slow as the Bears scored the first eight points of the game. However, the Fightin' Quakers fought back, and took its only lead of the game on a freshman Law Williams (Dayton, OH/Thurgood Marshall) three-pointer. Unfortunately, WU quickly countered with a three-pointer that sparked the pivotal run.

Down 18 to start the half, things went from bad to worse as Heard picked up fouls three and four just one minute into second half. With Heard on the bench, the lead and the Bears' confidence continued to grow. They shot 67.9 percent (19-of-28) from the field, and 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from beyond the arc.

"We definitely talked about a desperate effort," Hunt said of the start of the second half. "We needed to play a little harder and a little more desperate. We tried to break the game down into four-minute segments, and if we won each four-minute segment by four points, we would win the game. I thought our effort coming out in the first eight minutes of that second half was really lights-out good. We were flying around, but the problem was we couldn't make any shots. We went 1-of-13 from three in the second half. We had some easy ones around the basket not go in. I thought our desperation from an effort standpoint became desperation on an offensive standpoint when we weren't seeing the ball go in. It's kind of a fine line, but I was proud of our kids. I don't think anyone is going to walk out of that gym saying those guys didn't fight for 40 minutes. We gave effort, our guys were diving around; it just wasn't our night."

Heard finished with 16 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists, and junior Dwight Johnson (Dayton, OH/Jefferson) chipped in with 15 points, four rebounds and two assists.  Senior Ben Vonderhaar (Cincinnati, OH/Colerain) contributed 12 points and four rebounds, while junior R.J. Leppert (Liberty Township, OH/Lakota East) had nine points and a team-high six rebounds.

Wilmington finishes the season 19-9.