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harvey_cbi
Steve Simoneau/Roman CBI
80
Winner Seahawks UNCW 26-9
64
Northern Colo. NORTHERN 22-16
Winner
Seahawks UNCW
26-9
80
Final
64
Northern Colo. NORTHERN
22-16
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Seahawks UNCW 36 44 80
Northern Colo. NORTHERN 23 41 64

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Joe Browning

Seahawks Advance To CBI Championship Game

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – The UNCW men's basketball team is a step closer to the championship of the Roman College Basketball Invitational after dismantling Northern Colorado, 80-64, in the semifinals of the postseason event on Tuesday night at the Ocean Center.
 
The Seahawks, 26-9, matched the school record for games played and won for the third time in as many days after rolling past VMI, Drake and Northern Colorado in the 16-team tourney. Northern Colorado finished the campaign with a 22-16 ledger.
 
UNCW will face Middle Tennessee State or Abilene Christian in Wednesday's championship game at 5 p.m. UNCW's last in-season tournament championship came one year ago when the Seahawks claimed the Mako Medical Asheville Classic with victories UNC Asheville and Troy.
 
The Seahawks continue to build on an eye-popping campaign that has featured the regular season title in the Colonial Athletic Association, a nation-leading nine double-digit come-from-behind victories and their first postseason berth since 2017.
 
"I thought our guys came out with the right approach," said second-year UNCW head coach Takayo Siddle, who on Tuesday was named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award. "The mentality was there. We came out and played a complete half in the first half. Offensively, we were able to get going because of our defense. We were able to get stops, run in transition and the ball moved well.
 
"In the second half, we got to a good start and then had some lulls and got loose. We picked it back up and finished the game strong. I thought everyone contributed to the win."
 
Five players reached double figures in scoring for the Seahawks. Senior guard Jaylen Sims led all scorers with 17 points, followed by sophomore guard Jahmari Harvey with 15, junior guard Shykeim Phillips with 13, graduate guard James Baker, Jr., with 11 and freshman guard Jamarii Thomas with 10.
 
Senior guard Matt Johnson paced four Bears in double digits with 16 points.  Senior guard Daylen Kountz chipped in 14, junior guard Dalton Knecht added 12 and senior guard Bodie Hume finished with 10.
 
The Seahawks shot 53.6 percent for the game – their highest total in the last 11 contests. UNCW made 60.7 percent in the final period to break away from the Bears. Northern Colorado wound up connecting on just 39.7 percent after an abysmal 25.8 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
 
In a matchup of two high-powered offenses, the Seahawks, who led wire-to-wire, took a 36-23 cushion into intermission after Phillips connected on a leaner with four seconds left and never let the Bears get closer than six points the rest of the way.
 
UNCW extended the margin to 55-41 on an elbow jumper by Sims with 12:34 remaining, but the Bears rallied to narrow the deficit to 59-53 on Johnson's three-pointer on the left wing. The Bears fired in 7-of-14 from deep in the final period to stay close.
 
The Seahawks answered the brief comeback with a 6-0 spurt of their own over the next 1:29 to push the lead back to 65-53 and the Bears never recovered. UNCW's largest lead of the game came with 3:29 left when Harvey sank a three-pointer – his third of the game – in the left corner near the Seahawk bench.
 
Both teams emptied their benches with one minute remaining and 12 players ended up seeing action for the Seahawks, including walk-on guard Houston Carter, who made his collegiate debut.
 
The Seahawks, one of the CAA's best defensive clubs, frustrated the Bears from the start, handcuffing the Big Sky Conference squad to just five of its first 22 field goal attempts. The Bears finished the first half shooting a sub-par 25.8 percent on 8-of-31 tries.
 
UNCW scored eight of the first 10 points and stretched the margin to 23-12 at the 7:52 mark following an 11-3 spurt. A short range jumper by Thomas gave the Seahawks an 11-point advantage with just under seven minutes left in the opening frame.
 
The Bears closed the gap to 25-18 on a pair of free throws by Koontz at 4:34 before Phillips connected on back-to-back buckets to get the lead back to 29-18.
 
UNCW notched its largest lead of the first half when Phillips banked in his off balance jumper for a 36-23 cushion at the break
 
GAME NOTES: The game represented the latest start (March 22) in school history…UNCW outrebounded Northern Colorado, 35-33…The Seahawks committed just four turnovers in the contest…Thomas recorded a new career-high with 10 points…The Seahawks had 44 points in the paint…UNCW has now won a school-record three postseason games…Sims boosted his career total to 1,335 points in 111 appearances, moving him into eighth on the all-time scoring list…Phillips has made 17-of-25 field goals in the tournament…The Seahawks have made 50-of-59 free throws in the three games at the Ocean Center…UNCW tied the school record set by the 2016-17 club by playing in its 35th game of the season.

 

 
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