Seahawks can’t hold 22 point lead against Tribe; UNCW falls to 3-2 in CAA

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WILLIAMSBURG, VA (UNCW) — William & Mary stormed back from a 20-point halftime deficit to rally past visiting UNCW, 76-72, in Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball action Wednesday night at Kaplan Arena.

The Tribe improved to 10-6 overall and 4-1 in the CAA by remaining perfect at 8-0 in Kaplan Arena. The Seahawks had their record evened at 8-8 and stand 3-2 in the circuit.

W&M moved into a three-way tie for first place with the victory and shares the top spot with Northeastern and Hofstra. UNCW sits alone in fourth place heading into a Wednesday night clash between James Madison (2-2) and Drexel (1-3) in Philadelphia.

CAA Preseason Player-of-the-Year Marcus Thornton paced W&M with 19 points, including 16 in the second half as the Tribe outscored the Seahawks by a 52-28 margin. The Tribe shot 54.5 percent for the night on 24-of-44 from the floor.

Sophomore guard Omar Prewitt chipped in 16 points and junior swing man Terry Tarpey had 14 for the Tribe, which sank 19-of-20 at the free throw in the second half in the furious rally.

W&M’s comeback overshadowed a tremendous individual performance by UNCW senior guard Addison Spruill, who poured in a career high 33 points on 12-of-16 from the field and 4-of-4 at the free throw line. Senior guard Freddie Jackson was the only other player in double figures with 10 points for the Seahawks.

“Anytime you lose, it’s painful,” said first-year UNCW Head Coach Kevin Keats. “We did a tremendous job in the first half defensively, We knew they were going to come with a run being at home.

“Our effort was good, but we had too many individual breakdowns as a team. We were right there at the end of the game, but couldn’t get the stops when we needed them.”

UNCW clicked on all cylinders in the opening half, cruising to a 44-24 cushion, before W&M crept back in it early in the second period and finally overtaking the Seahawks at the end.

W&M scored 10 of the first 12 points in the second half to slice the deficit to 46-34 on Greg Malinowski’s lone three-pointer of the game with just over 17 minutes remaining.

The Seahawks still led, 60-51, at the 9:50 mark when Spruill drilled a triple from the top of the key before the Tribe rallied again. This time, the slippery Thornton capped a seven-point spurt that helped the Tribe close to 60-58 with 7:54 showing.

A pair of Spruill free throws at 3:23 gave the Seahawks a 70-67 advantage before the Tribe finally caught up and took its first lead since early in the first half on two free throws by Tarpey with 2:28 left to play.

UNCW regained the advantage briefly, 72-71, on Jordon Talley’s jumper on the right elbow at 1:58, but the Tribe scored the final six points of the game, including a pair of free throws by Thornton with 5.8 seconds remaining to seal the CAA home victory.

UNCW stunned W&M early in the contest when the Seahawks caught fire from the floor. Trailing 9-8 after the Tribe sophomore guard Daniel Dixon drained a triple with 15:22 remaining, UNCW reeled off 11 unanswered points to grab control.

Redshirt junior guard Craig Ponder of UNCW sank a long three-ball on the left wing to open the big spurt and Cedrick Williams connected on a turnaround jumper along the baseline at 12:14 to stake the Seahawks to a 19-9 cushion. Five different players scored in the rally and UNCW made nine of its first 11 field goal attempts to gain early separation.

The hot-shooting Spruill was the catalyst for the remainder of the first half, firing in 7-of-8 from the floor and making all four of his three-point attempts en route to 18 points in the opening frame. While W&M failed to score consecutive baskets, the Seahawks poured it on and Spruill’s fourth triple at the one-minute mark gave the Seahawks their largest lead of the first period, 44-22.

The Seahawks took a 44-24 advantage into intermission after shooting 67.9 percent, forcing eight turnovers and rattling the Tribe.

The Seahawks continue a three-game road swing on Saturday with a 2 p.m. tip-off against Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y. The Tribe travels to Towson, Md., for battle the Tigers on Saturday in a Noon start at SECU Arena.

GAME NOTES: The Seahawks shot 67.9 percent in the first half…W&M won the battle of the boards, 28-19…There were five ties and six lead changes in the contest…Each team made seven treys…Jordon Talley led all players with six assists…The Seahawks had just seven turnovers…UNCW had four more field goals than W&M, but was outscored 21-9 at the charity stripe…UNCW went 9-of-14 at the free throw line…W&M has won five in a row over UNCW…The Seahawks lead the all-time series, 40-24…UNCW has lost three straight in Williamsburg.

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