Nov. 6, 2008
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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - In one of the famed Philadelphia sports arenas and against the head coach that lifted the program to some of its greatest heights, Villanova played its only preseason exhibition game on Thursday evening at the Wachovia Spectrum and posted a 75-37 win over Northwood (Fla.). The Seahawks are coached by Rollie Massimino, who led the Wildcats to the program's only national championship in 1985.
The setting of the game at the Spectrum offered a nostalgic feel to the contest. The Spectrum is in its final season of hosting games and will close next year. Villanova played its first game inside the building since January 2, 1998 and will have one more contest in the venue, a regular season game against Pittsburgh in January.
Senior forward Dante Cunningham scored a game-high 20 points for the Wildcats on 8-of-12 shooting and junior guard Scottie Reynolds had 14 points and six assists. Cunningham also had a game-high eight rebounds and sophomore guard Corey Fisher scored 10 points.
The Seahawks were led with 15 points from senior forward DeSean White and used the exhibition setting to play all 16 players on their roster.
Thursday night's exhibition was the lone preseason tune-up for the Wildcats and the first of two exhibition games for Northwood. Both teams demonstrated the effects of being on the court against another team for the first time in a sluggish first half that resulted in a 26-21 lead for Villanova at the intermission.
The Wildcats never led by more than eight points in the opening period and the Seahawks whittled a 21-13 deficit down to two (21-19) with six straight points on a pair of three-pointers by Andrew Wood.
Villanova scored the first 10 points after halftime and limited Northwood to just three field goals in the second period en route to the final margin. The Wildcats shot 59 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes, a mark which included 7-of-9 accuracy (78%) from three-point range. Reynolds hit four shots from long distance while sophomore guard Corey Stokes made three triples.
Fisher and junior guard Reggie Redding had three steals apiece for Villanova and the Wildcats scored 42 points off of 31 turnovers by the Seahawks. Nineteen of those turnovers came in the second half when Villanova turned up its defensive pressure and scored 30 points in the period in such fashion.
The Wildcats officially open the 2008-09 season next Friday, November 14 at 8 p.m. with a home game against Albany at The Pavilion. The game is the second in a basketball doubleheader on campus that day, as the women's basketball team opens its own season at 4 p.m. against Big Five rival La Salle.
