HARRISONBURG, Virginia – UNCW rallied from eight points down late in the regulation and erased four-point deficits in overtime and double overtime to outlast James Madison, 86-83, in an early-season matchup of longtime Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball rivals on Thursday night at the JMU Convocation Center.
 
The Seahawks, tackling their CAA road opener, snapped a six-game losing streak and improved to 5-9 overall and 1-1 in the CAA. The Dukes dropped their fifth straight contest and dipped to 7-9 and 0-3 after falling in their conference home opener.
 
Redshirt junior forward Jeantal Cylla poured in a career-high 24 points to anchor three players in double figures scoring for the Seahawks, who netted 46 points in the paint on the night.
 
Senior forward Devontae Cacok registered his ninth double-double of the season and 44^th of his career with 18 points and 19 rebounds. Freshman guard Kai Toews contributed 12 points and nine assists in 45 minutes.
 
Three JMU players reached double digits, topped by 22 points from sophomore guard Matt Lewis. Redshirt senior guard Stuckey Mosley added 21 points and sophomore guard Darius Banks finished with 20.
 
UNCW led by five points at halftime of regulation, but the Dukes stormed back early in the second half to grab control. Trailing 59-51 with just over seven minutes left, the Seahawks rallied to grab a 67-64 edge with 12 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Toews. However, Banks rattled in a game-tying three-pointer with five seconds on the clock to send the game in extra time.
 
The Dukes forged out to a 75-71 advantage with 1:26 to go in the first overtime session, but freshman Jaylen Sims answered with a timely layup, Cacok scored on a layup and Cylla forced a second OT period with a clutch tip-in as the horn sounded.
 
JMU jumped ahead again in the second OT, 83-79, before the Seahawks reeled off the final seven points of the contest, capped by a pair of game-clinching free throws from sophomore guard Ty Gadsden with 11 seconds remaining. A long heave by the Dukes was off the mark, giving the Seahawks their first double OT victory since a 57-55 verdict over the College of Charleston on Feb. 22, 2014.
 
The Seahawks used a big first half by Cylla to build a 35-30 advantage at the break. The Lake Worth, Fla., product scored 11 of his game-high total in the first 20 minutes as UNCW jumped on top early.
 
Gadsden, making his first appearance in five games following an injury, made his presence felt immediately, launching a three-pointer with 9:50 left in the first half to give the Seahawks their largest lead of the first period, 22-13.
 
JMU whittled the deficit down to 22-20 behind a trey from Banks before the Seahawks got the lead back to 33-25 on a pair of free throws by Cylla with 1:13 left. Lewis later sank a pair of free throws with three ticks on the clock to slice the deficit to 35-30 at intermission.
 
TOEWS SETS FROSH MARK: Newcomer Kai Toews handed out nine assists to hike his season total to 114 dimes, eclipsing all-time great John Goldsberry's single season record for a freshman (105).
 
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS: The contest was the first overtime battle between the two CAA foes since Jan. 2, 1999, and only the second double OT matchup in the 75-game series.
 
KEY MOMENT: With the clock ticking away in the first OT period, Jeantal Cylla reached in and tipped in the ball with one second remaining to vault the game into another extra session tied at 77-all.
 
BOARD DOMINANCE: Led by Devontae Cacok, the Seahawks owned a decisive 53-32 rebounding advantage, including 20-7 on the offensive glass.
 
HUSTLE STAT: The Seahawks had a whopping 24 second-chance points on the night, while the Dukes had just six.
 
CAA ROADIES: The Seahawks are now 13-22 in CAA road openers since joining the league in 1984.
 
SERIES UPDATE: UNCW owns a 41-34 advantage in the series with JMU and has won eight of the last 10 pairings between the two teams. The Seahawks raised their record to 14-19 against the Dukes at the JMU Convocation Center.
 
QUOTABLE: "The guys just kept on making plays. We got down by four points late in both overtimes and stuck to the game plan. Nobody panicked. In the end, it was fun. We did very good job on the boards. We like to get the ball inside and we did a better job of getting it inside. We did some real good things when we were behind. It has to give the guys some confidence to finish it the way we did."  - UNCW Head Coach C.B. McGrath
 
NEXT UP: UNCW wraps up its two-game road swing to Virginia and Maryland with a 2 p.m. matchup on Saturday at Towson. The Seahawks and Tigers collide at SECU Arena in the first game in the conference home and home series.