Sea Dawgs head coach Kevin Whitted coaches up the team during a timeout in their home opener, a 83-81 win.

The Wilmington Sea Dawgs entered the Premier Basketball League during this, its first season and got off to a great start over the weekend.

Led by head coach Kevin Whitted, a Laney grad who owns the school’s all-time scoring record, the Sea Dawgs traveled to play Maryland in their opening contest and posted a 92-89 win on Saturday night.

They returned home with their 1-0 record to host Rochester on Sunday night and while the game was far from pretty, the Sea Dawgs sent their fans home happy after winning in dramatic come-from-behind fashion.

The Sea Dawgs trailed most of the game, but this is professional basketball and as they say, everyone makes a run. Both teams struggled offensively in the first half and it looked like both teams were still getting used to playing with one another. The Sea Dawgs fell behind early but crept back to take a brief one point lead to end the first quarter.

The second quarter saw the Sea Dawgs searching for their sea legs, as they looked very sloppy. Rochester was able to take their lead back early in the stanza and the first half ended with Wilmington on the short end of a 40-34 score.

The Sea Dawgs connected on just 11 of 32 field goals in the first half, but the Razorsharks struggled as well going 13-39. The poor shooting and the constant turnovers, Rochester 11 and Wilmington 17 in the first half, made for a rhythmless first 24 minutes.

During the third quarter, the Sea Dawgs fell behind by as many as eleven points, but closed the gap to one, 57-56 by the end of the period.

To start the fourth quarter, Rochester pulled away yet again, as was the trend all game. Every time Wilmington was able to get close or take a one point lead, they fell back behind by seven to eleven points.

Trailing 69-62, Jermaine Williams put the Sea Dawgs on his back. He converted a three point play and after Rochester made a free throw down the other end to make the score 70-65, Williams got himself to the line on consecutive trips with big efforts down low, and converted all four free throws.

Rochester again pulled away, and went up 78-73 with 1:08 remaining, as things looked bleak for the hometown boys. But Alexander Harper drilled a three from the left-hand wing to draw within two and after Rochester failed to score, Zach Herman sank another trifecta giving the Dawgs a 79-78 lead.

Without much scoring excitement during the first 47 minutes, the last minute contained several lead changes and some clutch hoops. Rochester’s Keith Friel made two free throws with :35 left to regain the lead for the Razorsharks, but Jermaine Williams, who played at LSU, answered for Wilmington as he put his team up 81-80 with just 7.9 seconds left.

For the first time of the night, the Schwartz Center came alive as the chant of “Defense” grew louder and louder as the teams took the court after a Rochester timeout. The Razorsharks were quickly able to get the ball down low and the Sea Dawgs were forced to foul, so not to give an easy lay-up. James Reaves was able to make the first, tying the game, but the foul paid off as he missed the second. The Sea Dawgs were unable to coral the long rebound, however, and Rochester called another timeout to set up a game winning play.

It seemed that if Wilmington was lucky, they would be able to force overtime with a defensive stop, but unbelievably, Rochester, who was taking the ball out under the Sea Dawgs goal, threw the ball away. It was Williams, who was in the consistently in the right place at the right time down the stretch, that swooped in for the steal and he sprinted the length of the court sinking the go ahead lay-up with .7 seconds left on the clock.

The PBL features some pro rules, 24 second shot clock and 12 minute quarters, but uses the college three-point line. So as Rochester called time out, no one, including the referees seemed to know if they could advance the ball to mid-court like the NBA, or if they had to take it out under their own hoop 94 feet away. After a meeting of the minds, the officials gave Rochester the ball at mid-court, but their inbounds pass was deflected by Wilmington and they sent their fans home happy.

The Sea Dawgs outscored Rochester 51-41 in the second half, in which they improved their shooting percentage from the low 30’s in the first half to 46% in the second. Jermaine Williams, who finished with 17 points on 6-8 shooting from the floor and 5-5 from the line, said “The first half was up and down, we had a lot of turnovers, but we knew if we settled down, we have a good offense and we could win the game in the end.” And indeed they did.

Charles Ward added 16 points for the Sea Dawgs and Alvin Jefferson finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Come check out the Sea Dawgs on Saturday as they will be hosting Arkansas. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 at the Schwartz Center at CFCC. For ticket information, log onto wilmingtonseadawgs.com or for more on the team check out their fan site at goseadawgs.com.

-JESSE JONES, CAPE FEAR SPORTS REPORT