Marlo Davis keyed UNCW’s big run when he came into Wednesday night’s CAA showdown with Northeastern.

UNCW 77 - Northeastern 69

I could hear head coach Benny Moss saying to his team, or yelling rather, something about “waking up.” Well if Vinnie Johnson was the microwave, Marlo Davis must be the alarm clock.

After sleep walking through the first ten minutes of the game, and putting themselves in a 21-12 hole, the UNCW Seahawks went on a 15-0 run, keyed by Davis.

Upon entering the game, he got a steal on defense and converted the break-away lay-up making the score 21-14. The next trip on D, he drew an offensive foul and his tenacity seemed to spark the ‘Hawks. After taking their first lead of the game at 22-21, Davis knocked down a three pointer from the corner causing Northeastern to call a timeout, which sent the Trask Coliseum fans into a frenzy.

Davis’ stat sheet has been full of dnp-cd’s, did not play-coach’s decision, recently as he had watched 10 of the previous 14 games from the bench. However Benny Moss used Davis, a 6′0″ junior from Toronto, for eight minutes during the first half and while his five points and two steals didn’t exactly fill up the box score, sometimes the game is about more than numbers. There is no stat for defensive intensity or for the spark a player gives his team, but if there were, give Davis a double-double.

While Davis was igniting the defense, Daniel Fountain was on fire from three point land connecting on five of seven trifectas during the first half for a team high 15 points. Despite their early nine point deficit, UNCW went into the locker room with a 35-25 lead.

The Seahawks were unable to pull away from the Huskies in the second half, and while it seemed UNCW was up comfortably, they held just a 48-44 lead with 9:45 and their leading scorer, T.J. Carter, had yet to make a basket or score a single point. That was about to change.

The senior guard said after the game that he has to be patient with the offense and let his team mates get involved and know “I’ll be able to score down the stretch when we need it.”

The Huskies kept hanging around and cut the lead to three at 57-54, but Carter’s will to score and carry the team offensively wouldn’t be denied. Without speaking, it was if he told everyone - I’m taking over and we are going to win. After doing some damage by taking the ball to the hoop, his three pointer with 3:59 put UNCW back up nine, 63-54 and UNCW, despite fouling what seemed like 19 times at the end of the game with a comfy lead and upsetting Coach Moss a bit, would cruise on home from there for their third consecutive win. As a team, the Seahawks made 13 of their 18 second half shots (72.2%) from the floor and 15 of their 16 free throws (93.8%) and Northeastern could never regain the lead they let slip away with 5:46 to play in the first half.

Carter and Fountain each scored 17 points to pace UNCW while Vladamir Kuljanin netted 14 on 7-8 shooting, and Todd Hendley 11 giving the Seahawks four players in double figures, which according to the UNCW Sports Information department, they have done nine times this season. And up next? Maybe the biggest game of the season.

After hitting a skid in the road and losing 4 of 5 games, UNCW has got back to their winning ways and will look to extend their streak on Saturday night when they host George Mason at home. Mason comes into the game off a 30+ point win and sport a 14-5 overall record. They are 6-2 in the CAA and this is one of those conference home games for UNCW that they really want to win.

Coach Moss has talked about protecting your home court and trying to steal a few wins on the road. Well this is one road game that George Mason would love to get, and a home game the Seahawks would love to win before their start a string of three consecutive road games of their own. So come on out to Trask and get your tickets early; this is a huge game and the last time to see UNCW at home until February 9.

- Jesse Jones, CAPE FEAR SPORTS REPORT

UNC WILMINGTON 77, NORTHEASTERN 69

NORTHEASTERN (7-11 (3-5 CAA))

Janning, Matt 8-13 2-4 21; Adako, Manny 4-8 2-2 10; Lima, Vinny 4-7 0-0 10; Bataille, Baptiste 2-5 4-5 10; Ojougboh, Nkem 4-8 1-2 9; Allen, Chaisson 3-7 0-1 6; Spates, Eugene 1-7 0-0 3; Gunterberg, Johan 0-1 0-0 0; Alvarez, Chris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 9-14 69.

UNC WILMINGTON (12-8 (5-3 CAA))

Carter, T.J. 5-8 6-6 17; Fountain, Daniel 5-7 2-2 17; Kuljanin, Vladimir 7-8 0-2 14; Hendley, Todd 4-8 3-3 11; Tomko, Chad 1-3 5-6 7; Davis, Marlo 2-2 0-0 5; Lacy, Dominique 2-3 0-0 4; Downey, Montez 1-3 0-0 2; Sheets, Josh 0-3 0-0 0; Jeralds, Darion 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-45 16-19 77.

3-point goals–Northeastern 8-20 (Janning, Matt 3-6; Bataille, Baptiste 2-4; Lima, Vinny 2-3; Spates, Eugene 1-4; Gunterberg, Johan 0-1; Allen, Chaisson 0-2), UNC Wilmington 7-15 (Fountain, Daniel 5-7; Davis, Marlo 1-1; Carter, T.J. 1-2; Tomko, Chad 0-1; Downey, Montez 0-2; Sheets, Josh 0-2). Fouled out–Northeastern-Janning, Matt, UNC Wilmington-Tomko, Chad. Rebounds–Northeastern 22 (Spates, Eugene 5; Adako, Manny 5), UNC Wilmington 29 (Kuljanin, Vladimir 8). Assists–Northeastern 15 (Bataille, Baptiste 5), UNC Wilmington 15 (Carter, T.J. 5). Total fouls–Northeastern 19, UNC Wilmington 20. Technical fouls–Northeastern-None, UNC Wilmington-None. A-5891