UNCW men open season with 106-77 win over Mount Olive
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) — On the night they unveiled their 2025 CAA championship banner, UNCW men’s basketball opened the season Monday with a 106-77 win over Division II Mount Olive.
Plenty of Seahawks managed to make an impact with five players scoring in double figures. Only one athlete on the home side didn’t manage to get into the points column.
(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)
Head Coach Takayo Siddle felt the emotions of the occasion as it was a celebration of the program’s seventh trip to the NCAA tournament.
“What a great way to celebrate last year’s championship run,” Siddle said. “Proud of the guys. We have a long ways to go, but one thing about this group, they come to work every day. We’ll be a team that’s just getting better each and every day, each and every game. As a coach, that really excites me.”
(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)
Returning senior Nolan Hodge led UNCW with 21 points. He also set a career high with four three-pointers made, with all of them coming in the first 11 minutes of the game.
He says he’s not surprised how much the team was able to spread the wealth offensively.
“That’s the make up of this team,” Hodge said. “I think any night, we’ll have multiple guys in double figures. Whoever’s the leading scorer doesn’t really matter because everyone’s going to contribute. It’ll be different every game. That’s the trust we have in each other and that’s why coach brought everybody in. He wanted a balanced attack and I feel like that’s what we have.”
(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)
Virginia Tech transfer Patrick Wessler made the most of his first game as a Seahawk by setting career highs in multiple categories such as points (17) , rebounds (14), blocks (4) and steals (2).
He feels like he’s already made himself at home in Wilmington.
“It was great,” Wessler said. “The fans were awesome. It was a really good environment. I think it was the trust that my teammates and my coaches have in me. That’s really what’s got me feeling so confident right now. We knew they were going to come out the gates jacked up wanting to get the upset. We just kind of withstood that early surge. After that, we played our game and made them come to us.”
(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)
The men will have an entire week off before their next contest. They take the court at Kent State on November 10.
Click here to see the box score of Monday’s game.
