Coming into Friday night’s game against the Jacksonville Jam, the Wilmington Sea Dawgs were 5-0, the only unbeaten team left in the Premier Basketball League.  But things changed during the next 48 minutes.   The Sea Dawgs played like Dalmatians instead of Dobermans.  Out there free and happy as if they had just helped put out a fire and were waiting for someone to throw them a bone.  They didn’t have that killer instinct in their eye when they needed it, like a doberman would if you tried to come into their house and steal something.  Because that’s what wound up happening.  A bunch of guys from Jacksonville, Florida came into their house and stole a win. 

   After the Jam outscored them 25-21 in the opening quarter, the Sea Dawgs pulled ahead for a 47-46 lead at halftime.  Cedric McGinnis nailed 3-6 from behind the arc during the first half as he, 12, and Charles Ward, 13, paced the Sea Dawgs attack in scoring and rebounding, as the duo had 15 combined boards.

McGinnis drilled two three-pointers early in the third quarter and the Sea Dawgs held their scant lead for a bit, but the boys from Wilmington never found their stroke on Friday night.  

   The Sea Dawgs ultimately didn’t execute well on offense, and their defense didn’t create many easy baskets in transition.  Therefor, they struggled to score.  Wilmington wound up shooting 38.6% for the night, and aside from McGinnis’ 5-11, the rest of the team was just 3-16 from behind the arc.  It’s tough to win when you only make 32 of 83 shots.

   After controlling the boards in the first half, the Sea Dawgs snagged 14 less rebounds than the Jam and allowed 15 offensive rebounds in the second half.  

   Jacksonville started pulling away in the fourth quarter, and with 8:30 remaining, they held a 76-68 lead.  Jermaine Williams’ three point play for the Sea Dawgs cut the lead to five, but from there, it was all Jam.  They stretched the lead to 10 a few minutes later at 88-78 and eventually bumped it up to 14 with under a minute to play, as they went on for the 100-89 victory.

   McGinnis led the ‘Dawgs with 24 points, while Ward finished with 21 points and a team high 12 rebounds.

   Despite the loss, the Sea Dawgs are now 5-1 in the inaugural PBL season and still hold a half-game lead over Rochester for first place in the East Division.  They will get their chance to bump that lead up to a full game on Saturday when they host Reading.  Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in the Schwartz Center at CFCC.  - Jesse Jones

Photos:  Eric Bartsch  Top right - Charles Ward with the swat ;  Left - Alexander Harper in for the finger roll ; Bottom Right - Frustrated coaches.