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UNC Wilmington Athletics

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Craig Ponder
Chris Crouch
73
Delaware DELAWARE 1-13 (0-3 CAA)
74
Winner UNCW UNCW 7-7 (2-1 CAA)
Delaware DELAWARE
1-13 (0-3 CAA)
73
Final
74
UNCW UNCW
7-7 (2-1 CAA)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Delaware DELAWARE 36 31 6 73
UNCW UNCW 29 38 7 74

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Hens Turn Blue After Wild Overtime Finish At Trask Coliseum

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – Kevin Keatts won't have trouble forgetting his first conference home victory as UNCW's head men's basketball coach. And 2,862 fans won't either.
 
UNCW erased a six-point deficit in the last 42 seconds of regulation to force overtime and rallied in overtime for a heart-stopping 74-73 victory over Delaware in Colonial Athletic Association action Thursday night at Trask Coliseum.
 
The Seahawks won their second in a row to even their record at 7-7 and improved to 2-1 in the CAA. The Blue Hens dropped their third straight to freefall to 1-13 and 0-3.
 
Senior guard Freddie Jackson led the Seahawks in scoring for the sixth time this season with 20 points and added eight rebounds and a team-high five assists. He played all 45 minutes in the contest.
 
Junior guard Craig Ponder collected 19 points, four boards and four helpers and senior guard Addison Spruill chipped in 11 points, nine pulls, four assists and four blocks for the Seahawks. Sophomore center C.J. Gettys also contributed eight points, eight rebounds and five blocks.
 
Delaware freshman Kory Holden led all scorers with 25 points, including a near-perfect 15-of-16 at the free throw line. The rookie guard helped the Blue Hens go 19-of-24 at the free throw line, but also committed 10 turnovers.
 
"It's unfortunate that someone had to lose a game like that," Keatts said afterward. "I thought our guys were resilient and our conditioning kicked in at the end. Our motto is that we don't stop playing until the clock hits zero. I never felt like we were going to lose the game because I knew our guys would keep on fighting."
 
Delaware appeared to have the game in hand near the end of regulation after leading 67-61 with 42 seconds left.
 
But UNCW rallied to force the extra period when Ponder sank a jumper, Spruill canned a pair of free throws and Ponder tossed in a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds left to knot the score at 67-all. A long three-point attempt at the buzzer by UD's Kyle Anderson clanged off the front of the rim, sending the Seahawks to their second overtime game of the season.
 
In the overtime period, things didn't look good for the Seahawks early as Anderson opened the scoring with a trifecta at the 4:44 mark. UNCW's Dylan Sherwood squared the score, however, on a contested three-ball from the right corner to tie the game again and after Marvin King-Davis made the second of two free throws for a 71-70 edge, Ponder sank a key triple to give the Seahawks a 73-71 advantage.
 
King-Davis then scored on a putback with 1:17 to go in OT, but Spruill tossed in the second of two free throws with 16.9 seconds on the clock to help UNCW forge ahead, 74.73. Delaware then worked the ball down the floor quickly before Spruill swatted away Chivarsky Corbett's last-ditch field goal attempt in the waning seconds to preserve the win.
 
After Delaware claimed a seven-point lead at intermission, 36-29, the advantage evaporated in the first 1:38 of the second half when Jackson opened the frame with a trey, Ponder scored on a dunk and Spruill tied the game at 36-all with a jumper on the left baseline at 18:22.
 
The Seahawks inched out to a 58-54 edge with 5:36 left on a jumper by Spruill before the Blue Hens scored nine points in a row to take control. Anderson opened the rally with a layup and Chivarsky Corbett's putback with 2:02 showing hiked the lead to 63-58 at 2:02, setting up the dramatic finish in regulation and the exciting finish.
 
UNCW took advantage of Delaware's early sloppiness to bolt out to a 13-2 advantage just seven minutes into the contest. The Blue Hens turned the ball over on their first three possessions and the Seahawks capitalized quickly behind Ponder.
 
Leading 5-2, the Seahawks reeled off eight unanswered points to build an 11-point cushion at 13:17. Ponder scored six points in the spurt as the Seahawks grabbed early control.
 
UD rallied, however, with seven straight points of its own and narrowed the lead to 15-11 on a jumper on the right wing by King-Davis that cut the deficit to 15-11.
 
The Blue Hens came roaring back and still trailed, 25-19, with 6:27 left before going on a 12-0 run late in the first half. Anderson connected on back-to-back triples to put UD on top, 31-25, with 2:10 remaining in the opening stanza.
 
Delaware scored 17 of the final 21 points in the first half to took a 36-27 lead into the break on Holden's desperation trey on the left side as time expired in the period.
 
The Seahawks close out a two-game home stand on Saturday with a 7 p.m. tip-off against Drexel. The Blue Hens travel to Charleston, S.C., to take on the College of Charleston at 6 p.m. at TD Arena.
 
GAME NOTES: The Seahawks snapped a five-game losing streak to the Blue Hens…Four Seahawks had at least eight rebounds…UNCW forced 20 turnovers by UD…The Seahawks outscored the Blue Hens, 7-6, in the extra session…UNCW had a 15-0 advantage in fast break points…The Seahawks had 11 blocks on the night…Jordon Talley and Cedrick Williams each fouled out…UNCW now leads the all-time series, 17-10…The Seahawks have won nine of 12 meetings between the two teams at Trask Coliseum…UNCW improved to 4-1 at home, while UD remained winless away from home in nine tries.
 



 
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