PHILADELPHIA – The Holy Family University men's basketball team did not trail in a 71-62 victory over Wilmington on Wednesday night at the Campus Center. 

Prior to the contest, the Tigers honored the senior class of Eric Esposito (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell Egan), Rick'Keem Mixson (Linden, N.J./St. Mary of the Assumption (Raritan Valley CC)) and Nate Conyer (Pemberton, N.J./BCIT Medford Tech). 
 
Individual Highlights

• Esposito, Mixson and Conyer combined for 52 points on 19-of-31 shooting
  • Esposito led all players with 21 points on 9-of-16 field goals and three steals, to go along with seven rebounds and four assists
  • Mixson scored a season-high 18 on 6-of-8 shooting, while posting a game-high six assists, six boards and two steals
  • Conyer added 13, including 4-of-7 3-pointers
• Jake McGonigle (Ocean City, N.J./Wildwood Catholic) led all players with a career-best nine rebounds, while adding four assists and two steals
• Josh Thomas (Queens, N.Y./Hodgson Vo-Tech (Cecil College)) and Elijah Jakeman (Philadelphia, Pa./Abraham Lincoln) each scored six points off the bench, while David Robinson Jr. (Philadelphia, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy) contributed six boards and five points

 
Inside the Box Score

• HFU limited the Wildcats to just 32.3 percent shooting, 21-of-65, including 16.7 percent from beyond the arc, 4-of-24, while making 26-of-53 field goals (49.1 percent) and 10-of-27 (37.0 percent) from 3-point range

 
How it Happened 
First Half

• Holy Family opened the scoring and led throughout the entirety of the first half, aside from two ties
• A Conyer 3-pointer 2:45 in broke the first deadlock at 2-2, and the Tigers were on top until the 1:05 mark
• Thomas' floater capped 10 unanswered to match a first-half-high 11-point advantage, 17-6, with 12:28 showing, and an Esposito layup also put HFU ahead 19-8 36 seconds later
• Wilmington began to a chip away with five in a row, but a Jakeman triple made it a nine-point cushion, 24-15, midway through the period
• The Wildcats scored the next six to cut the deficit to three, but back-to-back baskets by Esposito stretched the lead back to double-digits, 31-21, entering the final six minutes 
• A 4-14 surge tied the score for a second and final time 1:05 ahead of the break, but Conyer ended the half with another trifecta for a 38-35 score-line going into the locker room

Second Half

• The two teams traded free throws to begin the second, Wilmington's making the score 39-36 with 17:16 remaining, but that would be the last time the game was within a single possession as a Thomas hook shot began a 9-0 flurry that ended with his dunk establishing a 48-36 advantage with 13:44 to play
• Esposito later score consecutive buckets for the first of two game-high 13-point cushions, 52-39, at the 11:25 mark, with the second coming on a Conyer 3-pointer for a 55-42 edge with 10:55 showing
• Wilmington scored eight in a row to get as close as five for the first of four times, but the Wildcats were never able to get over that hump
• The final occasion came on a layup to pull within 61-66 with 2:45 left, but Wilmington would score just one point the rest of the way as HFU made 5-of-6 foul shots to seal the win

 
Up Next
Holy Family closes out its season at Jefferson on Saturday at 4 p.m.