Men's Basketball Takes CACC South Victory Over Wilmington 

WILMINGTON, DE. - The Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball team (15-8, 8-4) held their lead through the second quarter, holding off the Wildcats rally as the Rams took a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) South victory over Wilmington University of Delaware (12-12, 5-7) in Wednesday evening competition. 

WHAT HAPPENED 
The Rams would go out to an early 12-3 lead as Ahmed Barba-Bey and Hakim Byrd would make three pointers in that stretch. The Wildcats would get within five points with Amiri Stewart scoring six points in that run, but Jefferson got scores from Erik Timko, who hit a three-pointer, and Byrd scoring five points as they were up 27-15. Wilmington would once more get close to the Ram's lead, this time cutting it to 29-26 with 6:58 to go in the half. The Rams would look to get their lead established once again, as they would outscore the Wildcats 19-5, with Bismark Nsiah having six points during that run while Jeremiah Dorsey hit a shot from beyond the arc, to get Jefferson up 48-31.  

Wilmington would start to trade scores with Jefferson, keeping up with them as they'd get within 14 points, making the score 57-45 five minutes into the second half. After getting within 11 points, the Wildcats would get a technical foul, with Timko going to the line for the Rams and going 4-4 on the free throw line. Jefferson would start to slowly pull away from Wilmington, with Antonin Kemkeng and Justin Hawkins scoring alongside Timko, Barba-Bey, Nsiah, and Timko in the final seven minutes. Wilmington would get within six points in the final minute, but Jefferson ended the game with a 96-88 victory. 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE 
Erik Timko: 25 points on 6-of-10 shooting (2-4 3PT), 11-12 FT, 7 assists, 6 rebounds 
Hakim Byrd: 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting (3-5 3PT), 3-4 FT, 8 assists, 3 steals 
Bismark Nsiah: 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting (1-1 3PT), 6 rebounds, 2 blocks 
Antonin Kemkeng: 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks 
Ahmed Barba-Bey: 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting (2-3 3PT), 8 assists, 5 rebounds 

UP NEXT 
Jefferson will return to the Gallagher Center as they take on CACC opponent University of Bridgeport on Saturday, February 17 at 4 p.m. as the Rams will honor their senior's on Senior Day.