PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Senior guard Johnny Wolf led three players in double figures with 16 points and visiting UNC Wilmington committed a season-low eight turnovers as the Seahawks knocked off Drexel, 75-69, Wednesday night in Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball action at the Daskalakis Center.
The Seahawks, dressing just 10 players and playing without their top two scorers, stunned the Dragons on Senior Night to improve to 9-20 overall and 5-12 in the CAA.
The Dragons suffered their third straight loss to dip to 15-15 overall and 10-7 in the circuit.
Wolf, who had started 16 straight games, came off the bench and sparked the Seahawks offensively, going 5-for-8 from the floor and grabbing five rebounds. Sophomore guard Trevor Deloach, making his first career start, added a career-high 15 points and junior guard Ahmad Grant contributed 13 points and five boards.
Freshman guard Chris Fouch paced three Dragons in double digits with 15 points. Junior guard Jamie Harris scored 14 and junior guard Gerald Colds had 11 points and eight assists for Bruiser Flint's club.
A big underdog in the contest, UNCW embraced that role and stunned the Dragons with efficient offense and solid free throw shooting. The Seahawks turned the ball over just once en route to a 35-29 halftime advantage and wound up draining 18-for-22 at the free throw line to nail down their third conference road win of the campaign.
UNCW led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but had to withstand several Drexel runs in the final minutes to move to 4-4 at the Daskalakis Center.
After senior guard Darion Jeralds sank a free throw with 1:40 left to give UNCW a 70-67 edge, the Seahawks converted five out of six charity tosses in the final 35 seconds to avenge a loss last season in Wilmington.
UNCW played a near flawless first half, committing just one turnover, to build a 35-29 lead at the break and increased the margin to 43-35 at 15:16 on a backdoor dunk along the baseline by Grant.
Jeralds, who matched his career-high with nine points in the contest, capped a six-point spurt with the second of two free throws with 9:46 remaining to give the Seahawks their largest lead of the game, 56-45.
With UNCW still clinging to a 67-59 lead, Colds split the defenders in the lane for a layup and then Harris added a pair of free throws to help the Dragons close the gap to 67-63 at 2:53.
Following a Grant glider in the paint, Fouch made a layup and drained a pair of free throws to narrow the deficit to 69-67 with 1:59 showing. That set the stage for Jeralds, who made the front end of a bonus situation with 1:40 left to start UNCW's march to the charity stripe.
Grant scored the first two baskets of the game as the Seahawks got off to a quick start. Deloach connected on a running bank shot with 12:14 left in the first half to stake the Seahawks to a 12-7 advantage.
Drexel, behind Samme Givens, reeled off 11 unanswered points to take control midway through the first period. Givens scored seven of the string, including a fadeway jumper on the right baseline that gave the Dragons an 18-12 lead at 8:32.
A pair of free throws and a layup by Wolf brought the Seahawks even at 23-all with 4:59 left in the first stanza. After rookie guard Shannon Givens made a layup to give Drexel a 25-23 edge, UNCW used a 12-3 run to build its largest lead of the half, 35-28, when Jeralds converted both ends of a bonus situation at the free throw line.
UNCW concludes the regular season on Saturday when William & Mary visits Trask Coliseum for an 8 p.m. tipoff. Drexel, meanwhile, travels to James Madison for a 7 p.m. start against the Dukes at the JMU Convocation Center.
GAME NOTES: All 10 players that dressed played in the first half for the Seahawks and eight found the scoring column...Freshman forward Keith Rendleman picked up his second foul just 9:49 into the contest...The two teams combined for 73 points off the bench...UNCW snapped a four-game losing streak to Drexel...UNCW shot 47.3 percent from the floor...The Seahawks now lead the overall series, 11-7...UNCW's last win in Philadelphia came on Jan. 12, 2006...It was UNCW's final road game of the regular season...The Seahawks used their 13th different starting lineup of the season...UNCW stands 11-6 against Bruiser Flint in his nine seasons at Drexel...Former Brunswick Community College standout Leon Spencer had eight points for the Dragons.
