Wooga Poplar and Enoch Boakye each had a double-double in their Villanova debuts on Monday night as the host Wildcats pulled away from Lafayette to earn a 75-63 win in the season opener for both teams.
Poplar, who transferred from Miami, had 20 points and 10 rebounds. He drained a tiebreaking jumper that gave Villanova the lead for good with 15:51 left in the game, sparking what ended up being a decisive 15-2 run.
Boakye, who transferred from Fresno State, finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow newcomers Jhamir Brickus (13 points) and Tyler Perkins (13 points), transfers from nearby La Salle and Pennsylvania, respectively, also scored in double figures.
Villanova’s top returning player, Eric Dixon, sat out while serving a one-game suspension for impermissible participation in April’s Portsmouth Invitational.
Justin Vander Baan scored 16 points and Devin Hines had 12 points for Lafayette, a member of the Patriot League.
Villanova opened the game on a 12-5 run before Lafayette took a quartet of one-point leads during a 22-14 spurt. The Wildcats scored four of the final six points of the first half to take a 30-29 lead into the break.
Lafayette took its final lead at 35-34 on Hines’ layup with 17:54 left in the game and tied the score for the last time at 37-37 on Vander Baan’s layup 1:41 later. Villanova began taking control by scoring on its next three trips down the floor. Perkins capped the crucial 15-2 run with a jumper to extend the hosts’ lead to 52-39 with 11:35 remaining.
The Leopards answered with a 16-9 run in which they closed within six points twice, the last time at 61-55 on a pair of free throws by Joshua Wyche with 5:35 left. But Villanova scored the next six points and led by at least eight points the rest of the way.
Villanova improved to 11-1 all-time against Lafayette.
–Field Level Media
