Seahawks clinch top seed for upcoming CAA Tournament
WILMINGTON, NC (UNCWSPORTS.COM) — UNCW secured the No. 1 seed in next week’s Colonial Athletic Association Tournament and matched the school record for victories by outmuscling Towson, 83-78, in men’s basketball action Thursday night at Trask Coliseum.
The Seahawks (25-5, 14-3) conclude the regular season on Saturday with a 2 p.m. matchup vs. Northeastern. The Tigers (19-11, 11-6) had their six-game winning streak snapped and wrap up the regular campaign on Saturday at William & Mary.
“This was a total team win,” said UNCW Head Coach Kevin Keatts, who improved to 34-5 at home with Saturday’s clincher. “I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.
“We talked every timeout about staying the course and trying to get stops and keeping them off the offensive glass. Every time they got close, someone made a play.”
The Seahawks collected their third CAA regular season title in as many years and tied the school record for home victories with their 12th win at Trask Coliseum in 13 tries in 2016-17.
UNCW will be the No. 1 seed for the sixth time in next week’s CAA Tournament in Charleston, S.C. The College of Charleston will be the No. 2 seed and Towson has earned the No. 3 spot. The remainder of the seeds will be determined following the last games of the regular season on Saturday.
The grind-it-out contest turned into a battle between UNCW sophomore guard C.J. Bryce and Towson senior forward William Adala Moto. The pair traded shots throughout much of the second half and combined for 20-of-28 from the floor and 18-of-24 at the free throw line in the shootout.
Bryce anchored four Seahawks in double figures with a career-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting. Senior guard Denzel Ingram added 14 points, sophomore forward Devontae Cacok registered his 11th double-double – tops in the CAA – with 11 points and 10 rebounds and reserve guard Jordon Talley finished with 10 points.
Senior guard Chris Flemmings was plagued by foul trouble most of the game, but scored five points to push his career total at UNCW to 1,002 points, making the Cary, N.C., product only the 22nd player in Seahawk history to reach the milestone.
Adala Moto, who had just six points in the first meeting between the two schools on New Year’s Eve, led all scorers with 33 points on 9-of-12 from the floor and 14-of-19 at the charity stripe. Mike Morsell, the CAA’s Player-of-the-Week, was the only other Tiger in double figures with 12 points, making 5-of-11 shots before fouling out with 6:12 remaining.
The Tigers led at halftime, 35-31, but the Seahawks wiped out that lead early in the second half by making seven of their first 12 field goals in the final period.
Clinging to a 41-40 edge, the Seahawks outscored the Tigers, 9-2, and Ingram’s long trey on top of the key padded UNCW’s margin to 50-42 at 14:32.
The lead swelled to 10 points – the largest of the game- with 10:05 on the clock when rookie guard Jaylen Fornes drained his second trifecta of the contest and added a free throw on the next trip down the floor to put the Seahawks ahead, 59-49.
Towson, behind Adala Moto, hung around, though, and closed to within 59-54 after the Wake Forest transfer scored a string of five points with just under eight minutes left.
The two teams exchanged buckets the rest of the way and the Seahawks iced the game with clutch free throw shooting, draining all eight of their free throw attempts over the last 57 seconds to finally subdue the Tigers.
UNCW jumped out to a 10-3 lead on Bryce’s triple in front of the Towson bench with 17:12 remaining in the first half before the Tigers responded with a 7-0 mini-run. A breakaway dunk by freshman forward Justin Gorham with just over 15 minutes left staked the Tigers to a 13-10 edge.
The Seahawks stormed back, however, to grab their largest lead of the opening period, 23-19, on a layup by Talley at 6:52.
The Tigers, who shot 54.2 percent in the first half, used a 7-2 spurt to take a 31-27 edge and a pair of free throws by junior guard Deshaun Mormon with 51 seconds left in the half helped Towson take a 35-31 advantage into the break.
Towson overcame 10 turnovers in the first stanza with its stellar shooting and 8-for-10 shooting at the charity stripe.
GAME NOTES: The Seahawks improved to 22-14 against the Tigers…UNCW is 13-2 vs. TU at Trask Coliseum… C.J. Bryce collected his ninth game with 20+ points this season…UNCW’s bench outscored their counterparts, 20-17…At least four players scored in double figures for the Seahawks for the 20th time in 30 games…The Seahawks scored 16 points off 15 Towson turnovers…Head Coach Kevin Keatts is now 16-7 in February games in three seasons…UNCW has won three in a row over Towson and taken six of the last seven games against the Baltimore-area club…Towson shot 52.0 percent from the floor to 44.3 percent for the Seahawks…The Tigers scored 42 of their 78 points in the paint.
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