UNC Wilmington Welcomes East Carolina To Trask

WILMINGTON, N.C. – It’s that time again. When husbands and wives argue kiddingly. When close friends become bitter enemies. And when normally cordial colleagues poke fun at each other.

It’s time for the annual renewal of the UNCW Wilmington-East Carolina men’s basketball series. And while a little of the luster has been dulled since the Pirates departure from the Colonial Athletic Association to Conference USA in 2002, the annual tussle continues to be one of college basketball’s best rivalries.

“I remember my first game with ECU,” third-year UNCW coach Benny Moss recalled this week, “because I started getting e-mails and phone calls. I know this game means a lot to our fans because of the tradition involved and ECU’s past membership in the CAA.”

The rivalry aside, Moss is more concerned about getting his young team back on track after a recent skid that has resulted in four losses in the last four games. The Seahawks are coming off a 97-64 thumping at the hands of upstart Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in their fourth and final game of the South Padre Island Invitational.

“The main thing we need to do is to rest and get as healthy as we can,” said Moss. The Seahawks are banged up right now, with Will Ohuaregbe, Montez Downey and Kevin Moore out indefinitely with assorted injuries.

“We’re focusing on everything we did up until the last half against Corpus Christi. We battled, competed and did a lot of good things on the road trip, but everything snowballed against us in the second half in that game. We just want to put it behind us and concentrate on the positive things we had going until that game.”

The Seahawks slipped to 3-4 on the season with the loss to the Islanders of the Southland Conference. It marks the second time UNCW has been below the .500 mark in 2008-09.

East Carolina, on the other hand, is off to a strong start and carries a 5-1 record into Wednesday’s battle in the cozy confines of Trask Coliseum. The Seahawks lead the overall series by a 33-26 margin, including a 20-6 advantage in Trask Coliseum, where nine games have been sellouts.

UNCW has won eight of the last 10 meetings with ECU and 11 straight over the Pirates in Wilmington. ECU’s last win in the Port City came on Jan. 26, 1991, in 67-51 romp.

“They’re a very talented, well-coached basketball team,” Moss said. “They have very good guard play and post depth. They’ve been very efficient offensively in the early part of the season, and they’re getting better defensively each time out as well.”

Senior guard Sam Henan has been the catalyst for the Pirates. The 6-4, 195-pound sharpshooter from Charlotte leads the team with 19.2 points per game and is the heart and soul of Coach Mack McCarthy’s team.

“Sam’s their glue guy,” said Moss. “He’s one of their best players, and he’s also their leader. We’ll have to play better team defense and step up to the challenge individually to guarding him. Our team principles must get better as well.”

Moss said it almost “feels like they’re back in the league” because the Pirates have already played George Mason and VCU – both in Greenville. The Patriots trimmed the Pirates, 77-71, on Nov. 22, while ECU carved out a 93-90 overtime verdict over the Rams on Nov. 25.

Sophomore guard Chad Tomcod (19.3 peg), junior guard Johnny Wolf (17.7 peg) and sophomore forward Dominique Lacy (16.3 peg, 9.1 rag) continue to anchor Inca's offense. The Seahawks are shooting 43.5 percent from the field and averaging 82.1 peg

Following Wednesday’s donnybrook with the Pirates, the Seahawks make their CAA debut Saturday with a 7 p.m. clash against Georgia State. The Panthers and second-year coach Rod Barnes were picked to finish sixth in preseason balloting by the league’s coaches, media and sports information directors. -Courtesy UNCW Sports Information

-- Jesse Jones, CAPE FEAR SPORTS REPORT