UNCW finally loses a CAA men’s basketball game

WILLIAMSBURG, VA. (AP) — Omar Prewitt and Daniel Dixon combined for 55 points and William & Mary knocked off Colonial Athletic Association leader UNCW 96-78 on Saturday, ending the latter’s nine-game win streak.

Prewitt scored a season-high 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting, and Dixon tossed in 27, including making 8 of 8 free throws. The Tribe led 42-33 at the half and poured it on, scoring 54 points in the final 20 minutes. Dixon opened the second half with a jumper from just inside the 3-point arc, and William & Mary (11-9, 5-4) soon built an insurmountable lead. The Tribe shot 57 percent in the first half and finished at 56 percent (34-for-61) with 21 assists. David Cohn had 10 assists and 10 points for his second double-double this season.

Devontae Cacok led the Seahawks (20-3, 9-1) with 21 points and 16 rebounds and C.J. Bryce added 15 points, but was 1-for-8 from 3-point range.

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WILMINGTON, NC (COURTESY UNCWSPORTS.COM) — Senior guards Omar Prewitt and Daniel Dixon combined for 55 points and William & Mary earned a split in the regular season series with a 96-78 victory over the UNCW in Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball action early Saturday at Kaplan Arena.

The Tribe (11-9, 5-4) remained in a tie for third place in the CAA after avenging a 101-77 loss to the Seahawks earlier this month at Trask Coliseum. The Seahawks (20-3, 9-1) had their nine-game winning streak snapped and lost for the first time in conference play this season.

The Seahawks remain in first place in the league, one game ahead of the College of Charleston, which defeated Drexel earlier in the day in Philadelphia.

“We lost to a very good basketball team on their home floor, and they did a better job tonight,” said Kevin Keatts, UNCW’s third-year head coach. ““It was a tough shooting night for us, but they were a better team today.

“Typically, when we don’t play well on the offensive end we can rely on our defense to do a good job. I thought our defense suffered because our offense wasn’t very good today.

“Give them credit. We had so many breakdowns on the defensive end. William & Mary is a very good offensive team that you don’t have to give them easy baskets. We did, and they took advantage of it.

The rangy Prewitt led all scorers in the contest with 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the floor, including all three of his long distance attempts, and Dixon chipped in 27 points for the Tribe, who stayed perfect in nine home games this season. Jack Whitman (11), David Cohn (10) and Paul Rowley (10) gave Tony Shaver’s club five in double figures.

Sophomore forward Devontae Cacok had another monster game for the Seahawks. The Riverdale, Ga., product pocketed a team-high 21 points – with four highlight dunks – and pulled down 16 rebounds for his 10^th double-double of the season. Sophomore guard C.J. Bryce added 15 points, senior guard Denzel Ingram collected 12 points and graduate guard Ambrose Mosley had 10

The Tribe jumped out to an early lead and survived several comeback bids by the Seahawks to win their fifth straight over UNCW at Kaplan Arena.

William & Mary shot 57.1 percent in the first 20 minutes to build a nine-point lead at intermission and led by as many as 20 points in the final stanza. The Tribe wound up shooting 55.7 percent on the day to just 35.4 percent for the top shooting team in the CAA.

With 16:36 remaining in the game, Cacok sank a free throw and Chris Flemmings banged home a triple to bring the Seahawks within 46-41, but the Tribe scored 17 of the next 19 points to regain control.

Cohn started a 10-0 spurt with a jumper on the left baseline and after Cacok threw down the first of four slams in the final period, the Tribe reeled off seven more points as the margin ballooned to 63-43 at the 11:56 mark.

The Tribe, who never trailed in the contest, enjoyed its largest lead of the game with 4:18 left to play when Cohn dropped in a pair of free throws for an 85-63 cushion.

William & Mary capitalized on UNCW’s early shooting woes to bolt out to a 16-8 advantage before the Seahawks got untracked. While the Seahawks were misfiring on their first 10 field goal attempts, Prewitt caught fire, firing in six of his first seven field goal tries.

After UNCW freshman guard Jaylen Fornes drained a three-pointer from the right wing to slice W&M’s early lead to 11-8, Prewitt responded with a triple and Nathan Knight added a layup to extend the margin to 16-8.

The Seahawks then chipped away and narrowed the deficit to 23-20 on a layup by Cacok with just under eight minutes left in the first half, but Prewitt answered again with a trey and William & Mary settled in.

The Tribe recorded its largest lead of the first half, 42-30, with 1:12 left when Whitman converted both ends of a bonus situation. The Seahawks, held to 28.6 percent shooting in the opening period, scored the final three points to close the deficit to 42-33 at the break

UNCW returns home on Thursday to entertain the College of Charleston at 7 p.m. in the first of two straight home games. The Seahawks then host Delaware in the annual Homecoming game on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m.

The Tribe travels to Towson, Md., on Saturday to battle the Tigers at 4 p.m. at SECU Arena.

GAME NOTES: The Seahawks still lead the longtime series with the Tribe by a 42-27 margin…Kevin Keatts remained winless in three tries at Kaplan Arena…The Seahawks won the rebounding battle, 46-38, and had 23 offensive boards…David Cohn had 10 assists for the Tribe and Denzel Ingram dished out seven helpers for the Seahawks…William & Mary scored 49 points in the paint…The Tribe had 32 fast break points…One game after setting a JMU Convocation Center record with 16 treys, the Seahawks went 9-of-36 from deep…William & Mary’s eight miscues marked the first time this season than an opponent had less than 10 turnovers vs. UNCW…It was the first loss against a CAA opponent for UNCW since Feb. 15, 2016.. With 15 points, C.J. Bryce has now reached double figures in 19 consecutive games…The loss tied for the sixth worst loss for Keatts in his three seasons on the coast…Devontae Cacok entered the game shooting 49.2 percent at the free throw line and drained 7-of-9 at the charity stripe.