GREENSBORO – In a game that featured many spurts, the UNC Wilmington Seahawks held off North Carolina A&T's final attempt at one last late surge to defeat the Aggies 87-78 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) men's basketball opener for both teams at Corbett Sports Center on Monday night.
"Every shot is important. Every rebound is important. Every possession is important," said A&T head coach Monté Ross. "We did a good job of taking care of the basketball tonight, which has been a bugaboo of ours here of late. We had to do that to give ourselves a chance, and we did. We just didn't close the deal."
Redshirt freshman Lewis Walker led the Aggies with 23 points, marking the fifth time he has scored 20 or more in a game this season. Redshirt sophomore Zamoku Weluche-Ume added a career-best 19 points to go along with six rebounds on 7-for-12 shooting. Sophomore Dwayne Pierce also had a career night, posting career highs in points (18), rebounds (5) and assists (4).
A&T led 40-29 with 4 ½ minutes remaining in the first half. The Seahawks outscored A&T 11-2 over the next two minutes to get to within two, 42-40, on a Patrick Wessler layup. A Walker 3-pointer and two free throws from Weluche-Ume helped the Aggies take a 47-42 lead into halftime.
"We have to put ourselves in positions like this, so we can learn how to win," said A&T head coach Monté Ross. "I was really proud of the guys' effort and what they did out there in getting a lead early. I thought it was good back-and-forth, and then it got away from us with the fouling and that sort of stuff. But we had some good opportunities there. We had some good looks, some good shots, they just didn't fall for us."
A&T trailed by eight twice in the second half. A 3-point play from UNCW's Madison Durr gave the Seahawks a 63-55 advantage with 12 minutes to play. However, Weluche-Ume took a pass from Walker to knock down a 3-pointer from the corner. It sparked an 8-0 A&T run to tie the game at 63-63 with nine minutes remaining.
UNCW then capped off an 8-0 run of their own with a Nolan Hodge 3-pointer. The Aggies could not quite put together another spurt to overcome the UNCW run. A pull-up jumper by Walker in the paint did get the Aggies to within three, 71-68. But a Gavin Walsh 3-pointer pushed the Seahawks lead to six.
Walker got the Aggies to within four on a driving layup. A&T had a chance to cut into the lead further, but Walker's jump shot came up short. The Seahawks pushed the lead to seven, 77-70, on a putback from Wessler, but Pierce's three got the Aggies back to within four with 2 ½ minutes remaining.
A&T tried to get to within one, but Bryson Ogletree's 3-point attempt banged off the front rim. The Aggies never got any closer than four the rest of the way.
"For the first time I listened to when our guys were announced (at the beginning of the game), and it was redshirt freshman, redshirt sophomore, sophomore, sophomore," said Ross. "So that says these guys still need to get some mileage up under their belt and go through situations like this. We'll be better for it."
Hodge led the Seahawks with 24 points, going 5-for-9 from 3-point range and 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Four other Seahawks scored in double figures to help UNCW improve to 12-2 overall and 1-0 in league play.
The Aggies dropped to 7-5 overall and 0-1 in the CAA. A&T plays conference game No. 2 on Wednesday night when they welcome the Northeastern Huskies to Corbett for a 3 p.m. tip on New Year's Eve.
"We have to continue to do the necessary things to get better," said Ross. "Shoot, we've got a quick turnaround here. We've got Northeastern right away, so we have to be process-driven."
