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UNC Wilmington Athletics

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Events/Results

phillips_shykeim_elon
Troy Sayles/Elon Athletics
63
UNCW UNCW 5-14, 0-6 CAA
80
Winner Elon ELON 5-13, 1-4 CAA
UNCW UNCW
5-14, 0-6 CAA
63
Final
80
Elon ELON
5-13, 1-4 CAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UNCW UNCW 38 25 63
Elon ELON 33 47 80

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Joe Browning

Phoenix Down Seahawks In CAA Tilt

ELON, North Carolina – Elon opened the second half with a 24-1 spurt to race past UNCW, 80-63, in a Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball test early Saturday at the Schar Center.
 
The Phoenix won their second in a row over the Seahawks at their new arena to improve to 5-13 overall and 1-4 in the CAA. The Seahawks dipped to 5-14 and 0-6.
 
"We had a rough second half," said UNCW Head Coach C.B. McGrath. "We couldn't stop their run. We did a good job of getting shots, but we couldn't get the ball in the basket. We just didn't convert how we needed to.
 
"We did get some open looks. We just didn't knock them in. It's hard to either end one of their runs or start your own yourself when you're not scoring. It's difficult."
 
Freshman guard Zac Ervin of Elon led all scorers in the contest with 27 points on 9-of-14 from the floor, 7-of-12 from long distance and 2-of-2 at the free throw stripe. Freshman guard Hunter McIntosh added 15 points and graduate guard Marcus Sheffield added 11 for the Phoenix.
 
Junior guard Mike Okauru paced the Seahawks with 15 points, while sophomore guard Jaylen Sims chipped in 12. Freshman forward Imajae Dodd pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds for UNCW.
 
Down 38-33 at halftime, Elon capitalized on UNCW's cold start in the final period to catch up and then build a comfortable margin. The Seahawks missed their first 13 field goal attempts in the second half and the Phoenix took advantage of the drought, outscoring UNCW in the final period, 47-25.
 
Elon still trailed 43-35 with just over 18 minutes remaining after Okauru was fouled during a three-point attempt and sank three free throws. The Phoenix then responded with three consecutive treys in 59 seconds to kick start its decisive run and piled up its largest lead, 78-56, with 1:44 on the clock.
 
In between, the Seahawks made just 5-of-28 field goals in the second half and finished the game at 28.8 percent. It was the second worst shooting night of the season for the Seahawks, who lost their 11th straight game.
 
Sheffield, a transfer from Stanford and Elon's leading scorer, had just two points at halftime, but bucketed nine points in the second half as the Phoenix shot 45.7 percent down the stretch.
 
The Phoenix rode the hot hand of Ervin to an early lead before the Seahawks caught up with Elon midway through the opening period.
 
Ervin scored 14 of Elon's first 15 points – mostly from long distance – as the Phoenix jumped out to a 15-7 edge five minutes into the contest. Ervin canned four of his first six field goal attempts from deep and finished the first 20 minutes with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
 
The Phoenix led by as many as eight points in the first period before the Seahawks stormed back behind Sims. The sophomore from Charlotte scored 10 points and keyed a surge midway through the period as UNCW turned the deficit into a five-point advantage at the break.
 
Trailing 21-13 following a three-pointer by Kris Wooten, the Seahawks used a 13-3 run to grab their first lead of the game and stretched the margin to as many as six points. A Marten Linssen layup with 1:27 left in the half gave the Seahawks a 35-29 lead.
 
Freshman guard Shykeim Phillips ended the half with a three-pointer from the top of the key that found the back iron of the rim and dropped through the net.
 
The Seahawks return to the coast to begin a two-game set with Hofstra and Northeastern. UNCW and Hofstra square off in the first pairing of the two-game regular season series on Thursday, Jan. 16, in a 7 p.m. start.
 
GAME NOTES: UNCW owns a 12-11 edge in the series with the Phoenix…The Seahawks stand 7-5 vs. Elon since the Phoenix joined the CAA in 2015… The Seahawks made 21-of-26 free throws for 80.8 percent at the charity stripe…With nine turnovers, UNCW had fewer than 10 miscues for the second game in a row….UNCW only has 12 games remaining in the regular season, five on the road and seven at Trask Coliseum…The Seahawks now stand 1-4 in afternoon games this season…Okauru collected six rebounds for UNCW…Elon won the battle of the boards, 47-37…The Seahawks shot 29.6 percent from long range on 8-for-27.


 
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