UNCW opened up a 12 point lead just before halftime and saw it surge to 15 points early in the second half. But from there, the game got interesting.
With the home crowd behind them, which is a rarity in the early part of this year’s schedule, the Seahawks jumped out to a quick 14-5 lead, but Toledo was able to weather the initial storm and cut the lead to one at 16-15 with 10:57 left in the first half. With the lead still at one, 20-19, UNCW used a 15-4 spurt to close the half and take a 35-23 lead.
The Seahawks shot 56% from the floor in the first half, despite missing eight of nine three-pointers, but Toledo was able to slow down the tempo of the game, as was their goal.
The officiating tightened up in the second half, and with the lack of easy baskets via the fast break, UNCW did a good job of getting to the charity stripe. UNCW only hoisted up 42 shots the entire night, but worked on getting the ball down low and earning trips to the free throw line. Coach Benny Moss said, “We talked about getting into the paint, whether it was post-entry to the post players or whether it was dribble penetration, we needed to get into the paint because the game was being called tight, to get to the line 20 times is good for us, and to make 17 of those is also very good for us.”
UNCW took their biggest lead of the game, 46-31, five minutes into the second half, and seemed to be pulling away. However, Toledo was able to creep back into the game and with 5:58 left in the game, they trailed by just six points, the smallest deficit since late in the first half.
TJ Carter hit just one of six three pointers on the night, but picked a good time for that one, as he slowed down the Toledo run and extended the lead to nine, 58-49. From there, however, the Rockets went on a 10-2 run and cut UNCW’s lead to one with 2:12 left in the game.
The Seahawks tightened up their defense down the stretch and made their free throws, holding on for the 65-61 victory.
Carter led the Seahawk scoring attack with 21 points, thanks in large part to his stroke at the charity stripe (10-10 FT’s), while fellow senior Daniel Fountain added 15. The Seahawks four seniors, including Todd Hendley and Vlad Kuljanin, are all averaging over twelve points per game as UNCW has demonstated they have a balanced offense.
Turnovers have been a problem all season for the Seahawks, and they need to improve on their turnover to assist ratio; UNCW has 95 of each on the season.
Coach Moss said, “I don’t think we played our best today, but we found a way to scratch out a win.” The stat sheet after the game indicates that UNCW certainly could have taken care of the ball better (17 turnovers) but they made 17 of 20 free throws. They only made 22 shots all game, but they shot over 52%. Some numbers to be proud of, others that need improvement. But when you get a win early in the season and don’t play your best ball, you take it.