Newark, Del. - Juniors Ervin Ezell (Deptford, N.J./Deptford High) and Alberto Munoz (Morrisville, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) combined for 52 points as the Holy Family University men's basketball team defeated Wilmington University on the road in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest Tuesday night at the Wilmington Athletics Complex.

Holy Family improves to 12-8 overall and 8-3 in conference play after completing the season sweep of the Wildcats.  Wilmington is now 4-15 overall and 4-7 in the CACC.

Munoz led the Holy Family offense with a game-high 27 points after knocking down seven three-pointers, which tied his career-high set earlier this season.  Munoz shot 8-of-17 from the field and was 7-of-14 from beyond the arc.  He also grabbed three rebounds and tallied a game-high five steals. 

Ezell finished the game with 25 points after shooting 8-of-11 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.  Ezell also dished out a team-high five assists to go along with three steals.  It marked the tenth straight game that he scored in double digits. 

Freshman Hunter Wysocki (Colts Neck, N.J./Colts Neck) added seven points and a team-high six rebounds off the bench for the Tigers.

For Wilmington, senior Brandon Fox scored a team-high 21 points to go along with five rebounds and four steals.  Fox shot 8-of-16 from the field and converted 5-of-9 from the free throw line.  Fellow classmate James Pee also scored in double-figures as he recorded 15 points after draining three three-pointers (3-4).

The first half saw both teams struggle offensively as the Tigers (8-24) and Wildcats (8-23) each scored eight baskets a piece.  Wilmington managed to hold a 24-20 lead at halftime. 

In the second half, both teams began heating up offensively especially Holy Family.  The Tigers shot 56.0-percent from the field and converted 6-of-11 from deep range.  Munoz accounted for five of the six three-pointers, scoring 19 of his 27 points in the second half.  Ezell also heated up in the second half as he shot 6-of-7 from the field, scoring 20 of his 25 points in the half.

Holy Family opened the second half with a 15-3 run to lead by as many as eight points after Ezell converted a pair of free throws to make the score 35-27.

Wilmington would quickly rally and cut the Tigers' lead to one point after Pee knocked down a three-pointer at the 12:17 mark.  Pee's three made the score 38-37. 

Despite the rally, Holy Family did not relinquish the lead and eventually increased its advantage to nine points (56-47) with 5:53 to play.

Wilmington managed to knock the Tigers' lead down to five points on two separate occasions down the stretch with the latest coming with :35 seconds remaining on the clock.  Junior Shaquille Monroe-Gaskins converted a pair of free throws to make the score 63-58. 

That would be as close as the Wildcats would get of the Tigers' lead after Holy Family converted 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the final :35 seconds of action.

Holy Family is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 2 as the Tigers travel to face Post University in a CACC contest.  Game time is slated for 3 p.m.

- HFU -