“Unbelievable – not just for me, but for all of the guys,” said Leppert, a Lakota East High School graduate. “We came in saying we wanted to shock the world, and that’s what we did.”
Nobody was sure if Miami had ever lost to a Division III team or if Wilmington had ever beaten a Division I opponent.
“My guess would be no,” Quakers coach K.C. Hunt said about Wilmington beating a Division I team. “It doesn’t happen every day. This is a great moment for the program.”
Leppert was a blistering 8-for-10 from the field, including 4-of-4 on 3-pointers, leading a team that shot 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) from behind the line, helping make up for getting only six free throws and making three. The RedHawks, stymied in the second half by Wilmington’s zone defense, shot 32.9 percent (23-of-70) for the game, including 19.4 percent (7-of-36) in the second. They shot 20 3-pointers and made three.
“We haven’t shot the ball very well all year,” Miami coach John Cooper said. “We had some breakdowns that were unbelievable.”
Senior forward Will Felder led the RedHawks with 19 points and 11 rebounds, helping Miami build a 53-35 advantage in rebounding that translated into just a 15-11 edge in second-chance points.
Wilmington opened the second half with a 5-0 run to take a 44-41 lead. Miami came back to tie at 47 before taking advantage of a Quaker cold spell that added up to more than seven minutes without scoring to open up a 59-47 lead. Felder scored six points during the run.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by senior guard Taylor Wellman sparked a 10-0 Wilmington run that got the Quakers back into the game. Leppert’s 3-pointer cut Miami’s lead to 62-60 and Klarke Ransome’s 3-pointer gave the Quakers the lead for good with 1:42 left in the game.
Leppert missed the front end of a bonus free throw situation with nine seconds left, but he rebounded his own miss and was fouled again, sinking both ends to clinch the win.
“When you’re talking about relentless and competitiveness, one guy you think about is R.J.,” Hunt said.
Miami opened the game with an 8-0 run and led by 30-15 on Geovonie McKnight’s steal and dunk with 8:48 left in the first half before the Quakers started hitting 3-pointers. Seven Wilmington players connected from behind the line by halftime, including 6-5 senior forward Ben McGriff to tie the score, 39-39, with 1:31 left in the first half.
Rollins, a Wilmington High School graduate, gave the RedHawks a 41-39 halftime lead with a steal and layup with 52 seconds left before halftime.
The RedHawks are off for 10 days before facing Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne on Dec. 3 at Millett Hall.
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