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Villanova Men's Basketball

Villanova Men’s Basketball Takes Down Lafayette in Season Opener

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Villanova Basketball

It wasn’t always pretty, but they got the job done. 

Villanova Men’s Basketball opened their season with a 75-63 home win over the Lafayette Leopards on Monday, November 4, needing to overcome a second half deficit in a game they should’ve won via blowout.

The Wildcats played without star forward Eric Dixon, who received a one game suspension for participating in a pre-draft exhibition game in April while he weighed whether to begin his professional career or return for his final collegiate season. Filling the void left by Dixon’s steady scoring presence was senior guard Wooga Poplar, who authored a 20 point double-double, including seven of the Wildcats’ first 12 points.

True freshman forward Josiah Moseley went a perfect 5-for-5 in his collegiate debut, boosted by eight second half points, while Enoch Boakye added another double-double.

The last 5:32 of the first half became a back-and-forth frenzy that saw eight of the game’s 11 lead changes, starting when an and-one from Leopards’ center Misha Bednostin put the visitors ahead 20-19: when the dust settled, Villanova held a 30-29 lead heading into the locker room.

After making shots at a paltry 41.38 percent clip in the first 20 minutes, the Wildcats found their scoring stroke in the second half, converting 61.29 percent of shots taken.

That didn’t stop the Leopards from taking a one-point lead with a pair of early layups and, after a Poplar three, Lafayette center Justin Vander Baan made it 37-37 at the under 16 media timeout. 

Villanova didn’t blink at the gut check, reeling off an 11-0 run in the next three minutes and scoring 15 of the next 17 points all in all, including buckets from six individual players as head coach Kyle Neptune seized the chance to go to his bench.

Villanova Men’s Basketball moves to 1-0 on the season. Their homestand continues at 7pm on Wednesday, November 6 against the Columbia Lions.

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