The Muskingum men's basketball team slipped in a close battle to Wilmington in Ohio Athletic Conference action on Wednesday night, 79-74.

The Basics

• Records: Muskingum (8-14, 3-12), Wilmington (10-12, 8-7)
• Location: Hermann Court

Notable

• Junior Marcus Dempsey scored a team-high 20 points to add to his career point total to 2,018. He now becomes Muskingum's first ever 2,000 point scorer in program history.

Inside The Numbers

• Dempsey led the Muskies with 20 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. He finished shooting 7-of-16 (.438) from the field and 3-of-5 (.600) from the three-point line.
• Junior Alex Masinelli added 19 points and dished out a team-high seven assists. He went 8-of-11 (.727) from the floor.
• Sophomore MJ Smith chipped in a career-high 17 points going 6-of-8 (.750) from the field and 5-of-7 (.714) from behind the arc.
• Leading the Quakers was Jeffery Mansfield who had a game-high 33 points. He ended the night going 9-of-15 (.600) from the floor and 13-of-15 (.867) from the charity stripe.
• Muskingum finished the night shooting 28-of-57 (.491) from the field and 12-of-25 (.480) from downtown.
• Wilmington ended the game going 28-of-57 (.491) from the floor and 21-of-26 (.808) from the free-throw line. 
• Both the Muskies and the Quakers finished the game with 30 rebounds each.

Game Highlights

To start the game, both the Muskies and the Quakers got off to quick starts. At the 15:59 mark, the Muskies went on a 17-2 run to make the score 23-8 with 11:49 remaining in the first half and hold their largest lead of the game. Muskingum continued to hold on to their double-dight lead for most of the first half. Wilmington then battled back in the last five minutes to cut the deficit to single digits and be down at halftime, 38-37.

The Quakers regained the lead, 39-38, to start the second half and the Muskies got it right back with a basket from Masinelli. Muskingum pushed their lead back up to double-digits once again, 52-42, with 15:43 remaining in the game. Wilmington answered with a 9-0 run to get within one, 52-51, with 12:52 left. Both teams continued to trade baskets for most of the second half as the Muskies still held on with a small margin, 65-61, with less than five minutes remaining. The Quakers ended up taking the lead, 71-70, with 1:44 left in the contest after a 10-5 run. Wilmington finished the game making their free-throws down the stretch after the Muskies fought back in the last minute of the game, ending with the score of 79-74. 

What's Next 

• The Muskies next hit the road once again when they travel to Westerville to take on Otterbein on Saturday, February 15. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m. at the Rike Center.