UNC Wilmington Tops NC Central In SPI

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas – Sophomore forward Dominique Lacy notched his third double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds as UNC Wilmington snapped a three-game losing streak with a 79-64 men’s basketball victory over North Carolina Central Friday at the South Padre Island Convention Center.

Playing before a sparse crowd in the third round of the South Padre Invitational, the Seahawks evened their record at 3-3 and won for the first time away from home this season. The Eagles, in their second year of NCAA Division I action, dropped their fifth consecutive game to open the new campaign.

UNCW will meet Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Islanders whipped Jackson State, 73-63, in Friday's second game.

Lacy, a jumping jack from Florence, S.C., led a parade of nine different players who reached the scoring column for the Seahawks. Junior guard Johnny Wolf added 15 points, four rebounds and four assists and sophomore point guard Chad Tomko chipped in 13 points, five boards and five assists.

Sophomore guard Vincent Davis and freshman guard Jamar Briscoe shared scoring honors for the Eagles with 15 points apiece. Stevy Worah-Ozimo added 13 points and 12 rebounds and Phillip Branch had 12 points.

UNCW trailed early in the contest before taking the lead for good with a 16-3 run midway through the first half and maintaining a working margin as the game progressed.

NCCU managed to narrow the deficit to 45-38 with 15:35 remaining on a pair of free throws by Briscoe, but the Seahawks answered with seven straight points to push the lead back to 52-38.

UNCW later built its largest lead of the game, 62-42, when Wolf made a layup following a nifty pass from freshman guard Jerel Stephenson. NCCU used a 9-2 run to close within 69-57 before Wolf added a jumper and Lacy made a layup to keep the Eagles at bay.

NCCU scored the first five points of the game and still led, 12-6, with 13:01 left in the first half when Davis, the team’s leading scorer, made a driving bucket in the lane. Davis picked up his third foul eight minutes later, however, to leave the Eagles short-handed.

UNCW scored 16 of the next 19 points to take command. Lacy scored eight points in the spurt, including a dunk with 7:40 left that capped the run and put the Seahawks ahead, 22-15, at 7:40.

The Seahawks pushed the margin to 42-31 at halftime when Wolf hauled in a long pass and converted a triple from the left corner at the buzzer to give UNCW an 11-point cushion at the break.

UNCW shot 46.9 percent from the field on 30-for-64 shooting, while NCCU shot 40.3percent on 25-for-62. The Seahawks owned a 51-30 rebounding advantage behind Lacy’s 11 boards.

UNCW will meet the winner of Friday’s second game between Jackson State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2 p.m. Saturday.
-Courtesy UNCW Sports Information

-- Jesse Jones, CAPE FEAR SPORTS REPORT