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UNC Wilmington Athletics

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Events/Results

kelly_amari
John Crouch
68
Delaware UD 9-5,0-1 CAA
70
Winner UNCW UNCW 7-5,1-0 CAA
Delaware UD
9-5,0-1 CAA
68
Final
70
UNCW UNCW
7-5,1-0 CAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Delaware UD 32 36 68
UNCW UNCW 32 38 70

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Joe Browning

Seahawks Leave Hens Feeling Blue

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – Versatile guards Jaylen Sims and Shykeim Phillips scored 17 points apiece to propel UNCW to a 70-68 victory over Colonial Athletic Association preseason favorite Delaware in the conference men's basketball opener for both teams on Wednesday night at Trask Coliseum.
 
The Seahawks, who won for the fifth time in six home outings this season, reeled off their fourth straight win to improve to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in the CAA. The Blue Hens are now 9-5 and 0-1.
 
A senior from Charlotte, N.C., Sims made only two field goals, but cashed in at the free throw line, going 12-for-16 at the charity stripe to share team-high honors. Phillips, a junior from Winterville, N.C., scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half to keep the Seahawks on track for their first CAA-opening win in five years. Senior guard Mike Okauru gave the Seahawks three in double figures with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
 
Graduate forward Dylan Painter of Delaware led all scorers with 22 points and finished just shy of his fifth career double-double with nine rebounds. Fifth-year senior guard Ryan Allen chipped in 17 points for the Blue Hens, who scored 40 of their 68 points in the paint.
 
"I'm so proud of our kids," said Takayo Siddle, UNCW's second-year head coach. "Give Delaware a lot of credit…what a good team they have. Our guys never backed down from start to finish. We kept on swinging. We made the plays at the end of the game to win the game."
 
In a back-and-forth matchup that featured 11 ties and 15 lead changes, the result was still in doubt until the waning seconds when a three-pointer by Delaware's Ebby Asamoah in front of the Blue Hen bench bounced off the rim as time expired.
 
UNCW appeared to be in control with 7:40 remaining when the slippery Phillips canned a three-pointer on the right wing to give the Seahawks a 57-53 advantage.
 
Delaware cut into the lead, however, and finally knotted the score at 66-all on the first of two free throws by Allen with 1:27 on the clock.
 
But Sims dropped in a pair of free throws following a technical foul on the Blue Hens' Jameer Nelson, Jr., with 56 seconds left for a 68-66 advantage. But Painter knocked down both ends of a bonus situation to tie the score at 68-all with 20 seconds to play.
 
The Seahawks worked the ball down and Sims drove to the bucket, where he was fouled by Delaware's Kevin Anderson. Sims tossed in both free throws with three seconds left, setting up the Blue Hens' last-second attempt.
 
Sims, one of the CAA's top free throw shooters, missed his first four free throw attempts of the night, but sank 12 consecutive charity tosses – all in the second half – to help the Seahawks win for the second year in a row at home over the Blue Hens.
 
The two teams battled to a 32-all draw at halftime after the Seahawks led by as many as nine points in the opening period. Graduate guard Jaylen Fornes canned a jumper at the 5:45 mark of the first half to give UNCW an early 24-15 cushion. Delaware then outscored UNCW, 11-4, over the final four minutes to force a tie at the break.
 
Junior forward Amari Kelly, who did not play in UNCW's last outing vs. Campbell, came off the bench to contribute six points, seven rebounds and three blocks for the Seahawks.
 
The Seahawks next make a two-game swing to the Northeast to play Hofstra (Monday, Jan. 3, 2022) and Northeastern (Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022). UNCW's matchup with the Pride is set for 8 p.m. on Monday and will be shown nationally on the CBS Sports Network.
 
GAME NOTES: UNCW is now 17-21 lifetime in CAA home openers and 3-1 against Delaware in conference home debuts…The Seahawks lead the all-time series, 24-18….The Seahawks did not attempt a free throw in the first half…UNCW owns a 13-7 advantage over Delaware at Trask Coliseum…Painter has averaged 16.0 points and 10.4 rebounds in five appearances against the Seahawks…Siddle stands 8-5 at Trask Coliseum in two seasons…Siddle is 2-4 in CAA home games…Delaware's largest lead of the game was three points, 39-36, with 16:32 left in the contest…The Blue Hens shot 40 percent in the first half and 58.3 percent after intermission…UNCW went 15-for-20 at the free throw line…The Seahawks led for 27:11 of the game…Attendance for the night was 2,959.



 
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