UNCW men’s soccer team to host NCAA Tournament game on Thursday

WILMINGTON, NC (UNCW) -– UNCW has earned its first at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and will host Patriot League champion Bucknell in a first-round game at 7 p.m. Thursday at the UNCW Soccer Stadium.

Tickets may be purchased at UNCWsports.com, by visiting the UNCW Athletic Ticket Office or at the gate on Thursday. Adult tickets are $7. Students, children 15-under and faculty/staff tickets cost $2.

The Seahawks earned their at-large berth posting a 12-4-3 record and finishing in a tie for the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title with Delaware and Hofstra. UNCW fell in the CAA tournament semifinals to James Madison, who will play at UNC Chapel Hill on Thursday.

Although bowing out in the semifinals, senior defender Jacob VanCompernolle and junior forward Colin Bonner were named to the CAA All-Tournament team. Both were first-team All-CAA honorees and VanCompernolle was the league’s Defensive Player-of-the-Year.

Bucknell (10-9-3) knocked off top-seeded and nationally-ranked Boston University, 3-2, in overtime in the Patriot League championship game. Sebastiaan Blickman scored the winner just 1:54 into overtime. It was his second of two goals that afternoon at BU’s Nickerson Field. The Bison are playing their best soccer of the season, going 4-0-3 in their last seven matches, allowing just four goals over that span.

Thursday’s game will be the first between the two programs.

Click the icon above to see WWAY’s report on receiving a bid to the NCAA Soccer Tournament.
Here’s a link to the bracket for the tournament. http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/soccer-men/d1

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WILMINGTON, NC (UNCW) -– The UNCW men’s basketball team continues its challenging opening week of the 2014-15 season Tuesday when the Seahawks travel to the Gate City to battle in-state rival UNC Greensboro at historic Greensboro Coliseum.

UNCW, playing the second game in a four-day stretch, will be looking to bounce back from a season-opening loss to Old Dominion last Saturday at the Constant Center in Norfolk, Va.

“Every Division I school in the country played last weekend and only half of those schools got a win,” quipped first-year UNCW Head Coach Kevin Keatts. “Every coach in the country would love to play at home because home court advantage is so valuable.”

The new-look Seahawks are beginning the campaign with successive games at ODU, UNCG, VMI and Davidson. UNCW doesn’t play in front of its home crowd under Dec. 3 when St. Andrews visits Trask Coliseum.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks and Spartans lace it up for the sixth time Tuesday night, but for the first time at the Greensboro Coliseum.

UNCG opened its season last Friday with a 76-62 smack down of NCAA Division II Chowan at Fleming Gymnasium. The Spartans led by as many as 23 points in the first half and rode the hot hand of Tavon Sadler and R.J. White in a successful season opener. Saddler, a versatile 6-6, 205-pound sophomore guard, led all scorers with 21 points while the 6-8, 250-pound White contributed 20 points and nine rebounds.

“Tavon Sadler is a tremendous player,” said Keatts. “He’s a tough matchup because he’s 6-5 and plays off the ball. We’ll have to do a good job on him. UNCG plays fast and gets up and down the floor. Coach (Wes) Miller played at North Carolina and they’ll do a lot of the same things.”

The Spartans are one of six North Carolina opponents for the Seahawks in 2014-15. UNCW also faces Campbell, Davidson, East Carolina, Elon and St. Andrews. UNCW stands 202-221 lifetime against state opponents through the years.

The Seahawks are making their third appearance at the Greensboro Coliseum. UNCW dropped an 88-85 overtime decision to George Washington in a first-round NCAA Tournament game on March 15, 2006, and then thumped Wake Forest, 81-69, on Dec. 12, 2010.
In last Saturday’s debut, UNCW led ODU at halftime, 32-28, before the Monarchs rallied in the second half to pull out the win. Keatts used every player available on his bench, with veterans Freddie Jackson, Dylan Sherwood and C.J. Gettys posting career highs in minutes played.

Two players – redshirt junior guard Craig Ponder and redshirt junior forward Dylan Sherwood – went down on the floor, but both are expected to be ready Tuesday. Ponder encountered cramps late in the contest and Sherwood suffered an ankle sprain.

“Every time a player hits the floor, I cringe a little,” said Keatts. “We’re asking these guys to play a lot of minutes.”

Senior forward Cedrick Williams, the team’s leading returning scorer and rebounder, picked up two quick fouls and never really got into the flow of the game. He wound up with three points and two rebounds, well below his average in both categories.

Senior guard Addison Spruill led four players in double figures with 15 points, following by Ponder with 14, Sherwood with 12 and Jackson with 11. The Seahawks shot 36.7 percent in the first half and only 26.9 percent after the break.

UNCW snapped a three-game losing streak to UNCG in the last pairing between the two teams on Dec. 19, 2012. Former star Keith Rendleman had a monster outing, scoring 23 points and snagging 12 rebounds for his 26th career double double. Current Seahawks Craig Ponder and Freddie Jackson had 19 and 14 points in the win.

Following Tuesday’s matchup, the Seahawks travel to Lexington, Va., to make their first appearance at VMI’s in cozy Cameron Hall.

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Brooklyn, New York, and Des Moines, Iowa, will host NCAA men’s basketball tournament games for the first time in 2016.

The NCAA announced Monday that the other 2016 preliminary round sites are Providence, St. Louis, Raleigh, North Carolina, Oklahoma City, Denver and Spokane, Washington. Regionals will be played in Philadelphia, Chicago, Louisville, Kentucky, and Anaheim, California.

The 2017 tourney games will be played in Buffalo, New York; Indianapolis; Greensboro, North Carolina; Milwaukee; Orlando, Florida; Salt Lake City; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Sacramento, California. Regionals will be in Kansas City; San Jose, California; Memphis, Tennessee; and New York.

The 2018 early round games will be hosted by Boise, Idaho; Charlotte, North Carolina; Dallas; Detroit; Nashville, Tennessee; Pittsburgh; San Diego; and Wichita, Kansas. Regionals will be in Boston; Omaha, Nebraska; Los Angeles and Atlanta.

Dayton, Ohio will host the First Four all three years.

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) — Monta Ellis scored 18 points, Chandler Parsons had 17 and the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Charlotte Hornets 107-80 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 13 points to become the fourth player in NBA history to eclipse 27,000 career points with the same franchise, joining a prestigious group that includes Hornets owner Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant.

The Mavericks came in leading the NBA in scoring, averaging more than 109 points per game and the Hornets offered little resistance as the Mavericks routinely scored on uncontested alley-oop dunks, layups and 3-pointers.

Tyson Chandler was 7 of 7 from the field for 14 points, and Jameer Nelson had 11 points and eight assists for Dallas (8-3).

Gerald Henderson had 18 points for Charlotte (4-7). Al Jefferson was limited to six points on 3 of 12 shooting, snapping a string of 35 straight games of scoring in double digits.

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)