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UNC Wilmington Athletics

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MBB v. W&M
John Crouch
73
William & Mary W&M 5-22,4-10 CAA
80
Winner UNCW UNCW 18-7,12-2 CAA
William & Mary W&M
5-22,4-10 CAA
73
Final
80
UNCW UNCW
18-7,12-2 CAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
William & Mary W&M 27 36 10 73
UNCW UNCW 31 32 17 80

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Joe Browning

Seahawks Break W&M's Heart In Valentine's Thriller

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – Senior guard Jaylen Sims poured in a game-high 26 points and junior guard Shykeim Phillips provided a spark in overtime to propel UNCW past pesky William & Mary, 80-73, in a rare weekday afternoon tip on Monday at Trask Coliseum.
 
The Colonial Athletic Association triumph sets up a showdown on Thursday (Feb. 17) with second-place Towson in Wilmington. The Tigers, 10-3 in conference games, come to town for the 7 p.m. contest as winners of five of their last six.
 
By taking care of business against the Tribe, the Seahawks improved to 18-7 overall and 12-2 in the CAA. The Tribe dropped to 5-22 and 4-10.
 
"W&M was very tough and they compete," said second-year head coach Takayo Siddle. "They pushed us to the very end and our guys responded. We played two games in less than 48 hours and our guys are tired. I'm proud of them for pulling the game out."
 
Sims, the CAA's fifth leading scorer, reeled off his second straight 20-point performance and connected on 8-of-13 field goals. Phillips wound up with a career-high 24 points, with 11 points in overtime and a team-best seven rebounds. Graduate guard Mike Okauru chipped in 14 points and graduate guard James Baker, Jr., finished with 10.
 
Graduate guard Brandon Carroll and sophomore forward Ben Wight scored 13 points apiece to anchor the Tribe. Sophomore Connor Kochera pitched in 12 – all in the second half – and freshman guard Julian Lewis contributed 10.
 
The path to their CAA-leading 11th home victory was not an easy one for the Seahawks. UNCW completed a sweep of the Tribe after surrendering a nine-point lead with 2:46 left in regulation and surviving a three-point field goal attempt by Carroll in front of the Tribe bench with 3.3 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
Okauru, who exploded for 30 points in the first meeting between the two teams on Feb. 5 in Williamsburg, gave the Seahawks a 63-54 cushion with 2:46 left in the second half, but the Tribe scored the final nine-points to force overtime. Kochera converted a driving layup with 28 seconds left to knot the score at 63-all and after a missed three-point field goal attempt by the Seahawks, a long game-winning attempt by Carroll bounced off the back of the rim.
 
Phillips was on point for the Seahawks in overtime, though, scoring several difficult buckets in the extra session. Freshman forward Langdon Hatton put the Tribe on top early in OT, 64-63, with a free throw before Phillips started his spurt with a conventional three-point play and a triple to put the Seahawks in control, 69-64.
 
Phillips hiked the lead to 78-69 in overtime with four free throws as the Seahawks closed out the game connecting on all eight of their free throw tries in overtime. UNCW ended up draining 24-of-27 at the charity stripe on the day.
 
In the first half, the Seahawks used a 9-0 run over a 2:34 stretch to build a working margin before the Tribe climbed back into it behind the hot shooting Carroll. The Bronx, N.Y., product scored all of 13 points in the opening 20 minutes – 4-of-6 from deep - as the Tribe went into the break trailing, 31-27.
 
The Seahawks increased the margin to 10 points with 13:42 remaining when Sims drained a jumper on the right win for a 43-33 advantage. But Kochera, the 2021 CAA Rookie of the Year, provided a lift for Dane Fischer's club by scoring 10 of his 12 points over the final 12:24 of regulation, including a game-tying leaner with 28 seconds on the clock.
 
Thursday's much-anticipated game with the Tigers will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.
 
GAME NOTES: The Seahawks won their ninth straight game at home…UNCW won the initial meeting between the two teams, 92-70, in Williamsburg on Feb. 5…The Seahawks own a 47-32 advantage in the series…UNCW stands 25-13 against W&M at Trask Coliseum…The Seahawks have taken three of the last four games against the Tribe…UNCW improved to 6-2 in afternoon tips…James Baker, Jr., had four blocks…UNCW led for 40:21 and W&M was on top for 1:05 of the contest…Each team made eight treys…The Seahawks had 13 assists on 24 baskets…UNCW outscored W&M, 17-10, in overtime…Sims played a season high 43 minutes…The game was rescheduled from Jan. 9…Attendance was 3,020.



 
 
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