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UNC Wilmington Athletics

Scoreboard

Events/Results

77
Winner UNCW UNCW 14-5, 6-2 CAA
71
DREXEL DREXEL 3-16, 1-7 CAA
Winner
UNCW UNCW
14-5, 6-2 CAA
77
Final
71
DREXEL DREXEL
3-16, 1-7 CAA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UNCW UNCW 32 45 77
DREXEL DREXEL 37 34 71

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Joe Browning

Seahawks Surge To Second CAA Sweep

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania –  Chris Flemmings, Denzel Ingram and C.J. Bryce keyed a second-half surge to propel UNCW to its second regular season sweep in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 77-71 victory over Drexel in a men's basketball matinee on Sunday at the Daskalakis Center.

The Seahawks won their fifth consecutive game - matching their longest streak of the season - and climbed to 14-5 overall and 6-2 in the CAA. UNCW remains in a tie for first place with Hofstra and James Madison entering the final week of January.

The Dragons lost their fourth in a row and dipped to 3-16 and 1-7. It marked the first time since the 2006 season that the Seahawks swept the Dragons in the regular campaign following a 75-63 decision in the first meeting back on New Year's Eve in Wilmington.

"I thought it was a hard fought CAA game," said second-year UNCW Head Coach Kevin Keatts. "Give Drexel credit - they really defended us in the first half. We shot the ball better in the second half and got everyone involved.

"We knew going in that it was going to be a tough game. We got a little frustrated in the first half and started to play one-on-one basketball. When you're playing against a good defensive team and not sharing the basketball, it's not a good formula to win."

Flemmings and Ingram shared game scoring honors with 21 points apiece for the Seahawks, who trailed by five points at intermission before outscoring the hosts, 45-34, after the break. Bryce gave the Seahawks three in double figures with 17 points, including 15 in the second half.

Senior guard Craig Ponder, who entered the contest averaging 11.9 points per game, scored only two points early Sunday, but it was enough for the Bluefield, W.Va., product to become the 22nd player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

Junior forward Rodney Williams anchored three Dragons in double digits with 17 points. Graduate forward Kazembe Abif added 14 and sophomore guard Rashann London had 12 for Bruiser Flint's club.

Playing one day later due to a winter storm that dumped 22.4 inches of snow in the Philadelphia area, the two teams locked up in a defensive battle before the Seahawks took control in the final minutes.

Drexel, which built a 37-32 halftime lead, extended the margin to eight points in the opening minutes of the final period, but the Seahawks never gave up and took the lead for good with 13 minutes left to play and then held off the Dragons down the stretch.

In the decisive half, Drexel increased the lead to 42-34 on a layup by the bulky Williams at 18:39 before the Seahawks made their move.
The slippery Bryce sliced into the paint for a layup to start a 14-3 spurt  and Ingram's back-to-back triples helped the Seahawks bolt ahead, 48-45, at 13:23.

After Ingram connected on his fourth trey of the contest, the Dragons managed to narrow the deficit to 62-61, when London swishes a three-pointer in the right corner at 3:45.

But Bryce scored on a high-arching shot and quickly added a layup and free throw following a steal to get the margin back to 67-61 with 3:24 remaining and the Seahawks closed out their fourth road win of the season.

The Dragons missed their first four field goal attempts out of the gate and trailed by five points early before regrouping to take a 37-32 lead in a see-saw battle at intermission.

After Ingram canned a jumper near the free throw line to give the Seahawks a 9-4 edge with just under 16 minutes left in the opening period, the Dragons took their first lead of the contest following a six-point spurt on Abif's layup down the middle of the lane.

The Seahawks, who went through a five-minute drought midway through the period, grabbed the lead back and led 27-24 on Jordon Talley's steal and layup at 2:58.

But the Dragons closed out the first half with a flourish, outscoring the Seahawks, 13-5, over the remaining two minutes and Tavon Allen's long three-pointer with one second left lifted Drexel to a 37-32 advantage at the half.

The Seahawks return home briefly before traveling to James Madison on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip-off at the JMU Convocation Center. The Dragons play the second leg of a three-game homestand against Towson on Thursday at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Seahawks are now 8-11 at the cozy  Daskalakis Center since Drexel joined the CAA in 2001-02…UNCW leads the all-time series by a 15-12 margin…Each team led by as many as five points in the first half…The ball got stuck in the iron twice in the first half…UNCW had 14 turnovers in the contest…There were six ties and 12 lead changes…UNCW shot 40.6 percent in the first half and 50.0 percent in the final period…UNCW built a 43-29 rebounding advantage…Drexel had 15 assists on 23 baskets…Ingram led the Seahawks in assists with four dimes…The Seahawks went 7-of-12 from long distance...It marked the second time in the last four games that the Seahawks have featured a pair of 20-point scorers.


 
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