Seahawks basketball solidifies historic season with CBI Championship

UNCW defeats Middle Tennessee State in Double OT

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) – Capping off a historic season with another record-breaking win, the UNCW Seahawks are officially back, according to Coach Takayo Siddle.

“I think if you look at it, we are going to compete with toughness,” said Coach Siddle following the win over Middle Tennessee State Wednesday. “We’re going to fight, we’re going to play to win, and we are going to play the right way. This is a big family and I think the culture has changed, and I think now, when people see our name on the schedule, they won’t look at us and check us off as an automatic win. They know we’re going to fight and play to win and compete really, really hard. I think we caught the attention of a lot of people this year, and UNCW basketball is back.”

See the highlights attached.

Read more from UNCW below: In a season replete with memorable finishes and gritty, grind-it-out performances, the UNCW men’s basketball team saved perhaps its best for last in Wednesday’s championship game of the Roman College Basketball Invitational.

In a total team effort at the Ocean Center, the Seahawks outlasted No. 2 seeded Middle Tennessee State, 96-90, in double overtime to win the school’s first postseason title in men’s basketball.

The Seahawks, 27-9, won for the fourth time in as many days after knocking off VMI, Drake, Northern Colorado and MTSU in the 16-team tourney. The Blue Raiders closed out the season with a 26-11 scorecard.

It marks the second tournament championship for second-year head coach Takayo Siddle after the Seahawks claimed the Mako Medical Asheville Classic one year ago with victories UNC Asheville and Troy at UNCA’s Kimmel Arena.

The win, which took three hours to accomplish, capped an improbable season that included the regular season title in the Colonial Athletic Association, a nation-leading 10 double-digit come-from-behind victories and the program’s first postseason berth since 2017.

“What a way to go out…that was a great way to end the season,” said Takayo Siddle, UNCW’s second-year head coach. “What an unbelievable game that was. It was wild open and up for grabs in the first half. I told the guys that we needed to clean some things up. Whoever wanted it the most was going to take it and win the game.

“It was back and forth through the second half and we made our run. If you look at the game, that’s our season right there. Our guys are so resilient. They fought so hard and never gave up. They always believed that we were going to win the game.”

Senior guard Jaylen Sims and graduate guard Mike Okauru shared game scoring honors with 28 points apiece. Graduate guard Jaylen Fornes added 19 points for the Seahawks, who outscored MTSU by six points in the second and decisive overtime.

Graduate guard Donovan Sims paced the Blue Raiders with 27 points, redshirt junior forward DeAndre Dishman finished with 17 and freshman guard Teafale Lenard chipped in 11.

The two clubs were squared at 70-all after regulation and each pocketed 11 points in the first extra session before the Seahawks prevailed.

Deep in foul trouble, UNCW relied on veterans Okauru and Fornes and reserves Jamarii Thomas and Khadim Samb to carry the torch. Okauru scored six points in the second overtime as the Seahawks outscored the Blue Raiders, 15-9, to nail down the victory.

Trailing 88-86 with 1:47 on the clock in the second OT, the Seahawks got two buckets from Okauru and a pair of free throws from Thomas to move ahead, 91-88. MTSU’s Tyler Millin tossed in a pair of free throws to narrow the deficit to 91-90, but Samb made three free throws, including two clutch charity tosses with 6.4 seconds left, and Okauru sank a pair with one second left for the winning margin.

UNCW appeared to be headed home as champions in the first overtime period, but MTSU’s Donovan Sims had other plans. With the Seahawks ahead, 81-78, and four seconds showing, Dims drained a running three-pointer to tie the game at 81-all at the end of the first overtime.

The Blue Raiders carried a 34-30 edge into halftime behind the play of Donovan Sims, who netted 13 points in the opening 20 minutes.

A pair of free throws by Sims gave the Blue Raiders their largest lead of the half, 19-12, with 9:15 left in the first period before the Seahawks caught up.

While MTSU was going nearly six minutes without a field goal, UNCW got a lift from Fornes, who drained a triple and added a bucket in traffic to help the Seahawks close the gap to 29-28, with 1:26 on the block.

Lenard got a shooter’s roll, however, with 15 seconds left in the half and the Blue Raiders overcame 37.5 percent shooting for a four-point edge at the break.

GAME NOTES: Sims was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and Okauru also collected All-Tournament Team accolades…The Seahawks shot 40.6 percent from the field and the Blue Raiders finished at 38.5 percent…The Blue Raiders built a 52-36 rebounding advantage…The game featured a whopping 56 personal fouls and 89 free throw attempts…UNCW made 36-of-43 free throws…Four Seahawks fouled out…The Seahawks set a school record by playing in their 36th game…UNCW appeared on national network ESPN2 on back-to-back days for the first time…It was only the second lifetime meeting between the two teams…UNCW went 5-0 in overtime games in 2021-22…The game was the third double overtime game in the 14-year history of the CBI.