by MOORHEAD, MN – An explosive offensive outburst by Wylee Delorme tied the University of Mary men’s basketball program’s NCAA record for single game scoring by a freshman. Delorme scored a game-high 32 points in a 76-58 loss at MSU Moorhead in a contest closer than indicated by the final score.
Delorme, who scored inside and out for the Marauders (5-22 overall, 3-15 Northern Sun), equaled the 32 points scored by Eric Erdmann. A Marauders Hall of Fame member, Erdmann tallied 32 points in a home loss to Wayne State College on December 9, 2006, UMary’s first season competing in NCAA Division II.
In 27 minutes of play, Delorme was deadly from the outside, draining 5-of-7 behind the arc while making 8-of-13 shots overall. Fouled repeatedly as the Dragons (16-8, 11-7) struggled to slow him down, the freshman guard from Devils Lake, ND, converted all 11 of his free throw attempts.
The 11 made free throws and 32 points made was the most by a UMary player since Brock Heffner scored 36 points with 12 free throws against Valley City State University December 18, 2023. The five treys matched Jeremiah Jones for an individual season high and the most since Gunner Swanson drained six against Augustana last year’s season finale.
Delorme’s previous single game total was 10 at Wayne State College January 11.
The Marauders struggled shooting the ball early, missing their first five shots of the game and hitting just three field goals in the first 15 minutes of play, falling behind 28-11 before entering intermission trailing 39-22.
UMary found its footing early in the second half behind a scrappy defense and a hot hand in Delorme.
After posting eight points in the first half, Delorme scored 20 straight points for UMary during a 26-10 run to pull the Marauders within 49-48.
Trailing 49-35, Delorme reeled off 11 straight points in a 13-0 UMary run. First popping a trey, he hit a pair of free throws. Subsequently fouled on a 3-point attempt, he sank all three attempts from the charity stripe. Following a defensive rebound and an assist from Jeremiah Jones, Delorme capped his personal run with another trey to close the gap to 49-46. After forcing a Dragons turnover on a shot clock violation, Jones scored off an offensive rebound to get the Marauders within a point with 9:27 to play.
The Dragons, in a fight for a 1st round bye in the Northern Sun tournament, reasserted themselves and ripped off 11 straight points to regain control. Ty Johnson stopped the MSUM run to get the Marauders within nine at 60-51 but the Dragons scored on their next possession and maintained a double digit advantage the rest of the game.
Jone just missed in a bid for a double double, hauling down 11 rebounds and scoring eight points. The NSIC steals leaded added another four to his total and also distributed three assists.
