Ofure Odiale-Wilson

Matt Coldren has always preached defense and it has paid off. The Bulldogs’ head coach has more wins than anyone in program history. The former all-county guard at Wilson is (386-183) over 22 seasons. “That’s his main focus, defense, that’s it. That’s what wins games. We can have a bad day of offense, but we can never have a bad day of defense,” said Ofure Odiale. The Bulldogs came up with two pivotal steals down the stretch to beat Muhlenberg 39-36. “Dan Dan” Mosquera drilled a trey from the right wing to tie the game at 36 with four minutes remaining. After a long scoring drought, Cam Jones picked the pocket of Xzavion Robertson and was fouled with 37 seconds left. Jones went 1-of-2 from the free throw line. The (13-7, 5-4) Muhls had one last chance. However, Odiale forced a turnover by Luis Valentin in the final seconds. Seamus Breslin scooped up the loose ball and made a layup at the buzzer. Wilson ended Muhlenberg’s 5-game winning streak. The (14-5, 6-3) Bulldogs are now alone in second place in Division 1. Wilson was on top 11-10 after eight minutes and 22-21 at halftime. The Bulldogs used a 7-0 run to start the third quarter to build an eight point advantage. Odiale splashed a 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 29-21. It was just the fourth triple of the season for the 6’5 senior forward. Odiale was taken out after getting his third foul with 2:49 remaining in the period. An offensive foul sent him back to the bench one minute into the fourth quarter. He finished with 13 points, one shy of his career high. Breslin added nine points. Jones and Cleveland Harding scored seven points apiece. Harding, a 5’10 guard, pulled down 11 rebounds. Jones was playing in just his sixth game. He returned from an injury on January 7th. “He’s a very important part of our team. He plays a very big role. We love to have him on our team,” stated Odiale. Jones is a two-time, all-state football player who’s committed to Holy Cross. The Muhls entered Monday averaging 62.5 points a night. They were limited to 15 points in the second half and six in the fourth quarter. Mosquera, an all-division guard, had a game-high 16 points. Robertson scored all nine of his points in the first half. The 5’11 senior was whistled for his fourth foul with 2:19 left in the third period. Wilson prevailed despite another rough shooting performance. The Bulldogs were 8-17 from the charity stripe and only connected once from beyond the arc. Muhlenberg made all eight of its free throw attempts. Robertson and Mosquera each hit a pair of 3-pointers. I asked Odiale about the environment in West Lawn. “It was really loud, but we didn’t let it get to us,” he replied. Odiale, who also plays football, gave me his prediction for the Super Bowl. In addition, we talked about his favorite rapper and teachers.