After winning their fourth consecutive Premier Basketball League game to open the season on Friday, the Wilmington Sea Dawgs returned home Saturday night and ran their record to 5-0 with a  105-89 win over the Maryland Nighthawks.

Friday’s 107-104 win over Reading was another close contest, but Saturday, the Sea Dawgs used an 8-0 run late in the second quarter to open up an 11 point lead.  They extended the lead to 13 by halftime, 58-45, as Alex Harper led the charge with 14 first half points.

Wilmington outscored Maryland 14-6 to open the third quarter and their 72-51 lead gave them a comfortable 21 point cushion. 

The Nighthawks were able to whittle the lead down to 13 points at 80-67 late in the third quarter, but that was as close as they would come.

“We’re playing well.  We are focused on doing the little things and I think that is helping us over the long haul of 48 minutes.  Guys are settling down now.  They are letting the game slow down, and what happened often to us, was we got in such a hurry, so eager to make something happen that we were destroying (the offense).  The main thing is to let the natural progression of the game take over.  

The Sea Dawgs shot 46.7% from the floor while Maryland connected on just 37.6% of their attempts.  The Sea Dawgs, who looked sloppy to begin the season, seem to be gelling on offense and they committed just 12 turnovers on the night.

Charles Ward paced the Sea Dawgs with 19 points, while Alex Harper and Jason Pryor netted 18 each.  Wilmington used a balanced attack on offense, with six players scoring in double figures.  Alvin Jefferson tallied a double-double  scoring ten points and grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds.  

INJURY NEWS - Tre Witted was out with an injury.  The team is concerned about a bone in his foot and will know more when they get the results of his MRI on Monday.

Photo: Alex Harper up for the dunk The Sea Dawgs have two home games next weekend against East Division foes.  On Friday, they will welcome Jacksonville (FL) to the Schwartz Center and will then host Reading on Saturday.  Both games are 7:00 p.m. tip-offs.