WILMINGTON, Del. - Using buzzer-beaters and improbable bounces, Wilmington rallied again and again to pull off a 101-99 double overtime win over Millersville Wednesday evening. After a Jaylin Horsey miracle bank shot to force overtime, it was Denim Perkins who played the hero with the game-tying shot and a steal that led to Akeem Taylor's game-winner as time expired. 

Wilmington, now 3-0 with an exhibition win over Division I Delaware, trailed Millersville (1-2) by eight points with just 2:21 remaining in regulation. But the Wildcats erased that deficit, trailed for most of the first overtime, and trailed by as many as five in the second overtime. Millersville has now lost five in a row at Wilmington, and hasn't won on the Wildcats' home court since 1997. 

Millersville's Saraj Ali scored 24 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the field and 8 of 9 shooting from the line, but fouled out with 46 seconds remaining in the first OT. Day Waters scored 23 for his seventh consecutive 20-point game, and Aamir Hurst made 7 of 10 shots, 4 of 4 free throws and finished with a season high 19 points, but the Marauders' ill-timed turnovers and defensive breakdowns prevented the Marauders from closing out the game. The Marauders finished with 19 turnovers, and none was more costly than Denim's steal in the closing seconds of the game. 

"Right now, when we get a lead, we are making too many mistakes," said Millersville head coach Casey Stitzel. "It could be defensive mistakes, it could be turnovers. Until we fix it, it is going to be hard to win these games, especially on the road. Every time we got momentum, we made two mistakes. You can make one, but you can't make two, three, or four in a row. We have to learn how to take care of the ball and execute."

Millersville led 99-96 with 1:17 to play, but committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions. Perkins scored a bucket in traffic to tie the game with 14 seconds to play, and as Hurst tried to answer with a drive to the basket, Perkins poked the ball away. Akeem Taylor scooped and scored an uncontested lay-up just before the buzzer. 

As unlikely a finish as that was, it wasn't the only one for the Wildcats. In regulation, after whittling Millersville's eight-point lead to three, Horsey extended the game with a prayer. Horsey was blanketed in front of his bench on the left wing, and with Carnell Henderson offering no air space, Horsey threw up a desperation 3-pointer that banked home. Again, in the first overtime, with Millersville leading by three, Taylor, falling to the floor, flung the ball over his shoulder at the rim, and it somehow banked in. The Marauders were whistled for a foul, and Taylor sank the free throw. Taylor did it again seconds later, hoisting and dropping another in-traffic runner on a drive to the bucket. Only two Waters free throws pushed the game into an extra session. 

The second overtime started promisingly for the Marauders as Waters sank a 3-pointer and then scored on a post-up. Dante Weise drove for two, giving the Marauders a 97-92 lead with 3:12 to play. But the rest of the way, the Marauders committed five turnovers and did not make a shot from the floor. The loss extended a troubling trend as they lost all three overtime games last season. 

"You can't simulate the situations in practice because there is no pressure there," said Stitzel. "You just have to make plays, execute in the situation and take care of the ball...We can keep going down this road, or we can stop it. If we can stop it and get one, it will give us momentum. But everyone in the program, from the players to the coaches to the managers, we all have to find a way to stop the cycle."

UP NEXT
Millersville returns to Pucillo Gymnasium on Saturday to take on 3-0 Jefferson. All three of Jefferson's wins have come by double figures. Tip is set for 2 p.m.