Seahawks back in first place by themselves with win over Dukes
WILMINGTON, NC (COURTESY UNCWSPORTS.COM) — UNCW continued its long range assault and tied the school record for regular season victories by ripping James Madison, 88-73, in Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball action on Thursday night at Trask Coliseum.
The Seahawks (22-4, 11-2) won for the 11th time in 13 games heading into the final five games of the regular season. Coupled with Northeastern’s 73-72 upset at Charleston, UNCW regains sole possession of first place in the CAA.
The Dukes (7-19, 5-8) lost for the sixth time in seven outings and return to the JMU Convocation Center for three of their final five contests.
With the win, the Seahawks matched the 22 regular season wins posted one year ago by the program’s fifth NCAA Tournament team that closed at 25-8 overall. Only seven teams have won 20 or more games in the history of the program, including the last two clubs.
The Seahawks, who drained 13-of-24 treys after setting a school record with 21 triples last Saturday, completed a sweep of the regular season series with the Dukes after defeating JMU, 87-76, on Jan. 26 in Harrisonburg, Va.
Sophomore guard C.J. Bryce of UNCW led all scorers in the contest with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He was joined in double figures by senior guard Denzel Ingram (15), senior guard Chris Flemmings (13) and graduate guard Ambrose Mosley (12) as the Seahawks placed four men in double digits for the 18th time this season.
Three players scored 13 points apiece for the Dukes, who finished shooting 47.3 percent after making just 34.6 percent in the opening 20 minutes. Senior forward Paulius Satkus, senior guard Shakir Brown and senior forward Dimitrije Cabarkapa each collected 13 points, while junior point guard Joey McLean contributed 10.
“I thought we played a tremendous first half,” said third-year UNCW Head Coach Kevin Keatts, who has never lost to JMU in six matchups. “This was our best game in a long time where our press was very effective. This was a very good, experienced James Madison team.
“We’ve put a lot of work into taking away other team’s strengths. We’re back to taking away people’s strengths and playing UNCW basketball.”
UNCW took a 47-24 cushion into halftime behind 64 percent shooting and withstood an brief second-half rally by the Dukes to sweep the regular season series for the second straight year. The Seahawks have now won six in a row over the Virginia-based club.
JMU, behind six points from Satkus, scored the first eight points of the second period to close the gap to 47-32 before reserve playmaker Jordon Talley got the Seahawks on the board with a floater at 16:46.
Satkus responded with a pair of free throws to slice the deficit to 49-34, but the 15-point deficit was the closest the Dukes could get as Mosley, who scored just three points in the first half, came alive, draining a pair of triples, including one from the right corner with 12:08 left that padded the margin to 65-47.
UNCW’s largest lead came with 4:03 remaining when the talented Bryce converted a layup for an 88-60 bulge.
The Seahawks sizzled from deep early for the second straight game, hitting their first five three-point field goal attempts to grab a quick 23-12 advantage. Bryce and Ingram each made their first three field goals and Talley’s trey on the right side helped the Seahawks double up the Dukes, 20-10.
After JMU’s Ivan Lucic scored on a layup, the Seahawks then reeled off 10 straight points to open up the advantage to 18 points, 30-12, with just over eight minutes left in the first half. Bryce started the spurt with a triple from the left corner and closed the rally with a pretty layup in traffic on the left corner to extend the margin to 30-12.
UNCW registered its largest lead of the first period when freshman guard Jaylen Fornes drained his second trifecta of the half to increase the lead to 45-21 with 1:42 to go.
The Seahawks wound up shooting 64.0 percent in the first 20 minutes, connecting on 16-of-25 field goals, including 8-of-14 from long distance.
The Seahawks begin a three-game road swing on Saturday by traveling up Interstate 40 to play Elon in a 4 p.m. tip-off at Alumni Gym. The Dukes entertain Delaware on Saturday at the same time on Saturday on their home floor.
GAME NOTES: The Seahawks now lead the all-time series with JMU by a 39-33 margin…The Seahawks have not lost to the Dukes since Feb. 15, 2014…The game marked Louis Rowe’s coaching debut vs. the Seahawks at Trask Coliseum…UNCW is 19-10 in February games vs. JMU…Sophomore forward Devontae Cacok had two dunks to hike his season total to 72 slams…Jackson Kent, JMU’s leading scorer, was held to nine points after scoring 23 points vs. UNCW in the first meeting…JMU never led in the contest…The Dukes did own a 30-29 edge on the boards…Nine players had at least one rebound for the Seahawks…UNCW is 11-1 when opponents have 20 or more turnovers during the Kevin Keatts Era.
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