Hawks use late surge to win fifth straight game

UNCW 73, Elon 66

On a night where both teams were looking to shake off some rust, find their legs and establish a new rhythm, it’s only right that the game seemingly turned on a silly mistake.

Only this one had nothing to do with a silly turnover, poor shot or errant pass.

Instead, it was an extra media timeout initiated by the officiating crew that helped the Seahawks get on track to overcome a 10-point deficit, rallying for a 73-66 victory over the Phoenix on Wednesday night.

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Trailing 55-45 when officials mistakenly extended a stoppage with 9:06 remaining, UNCW (8-5, 2-0 CAA) went on a 12-0 run en route to its fifth straight victory — the longest such streak since a seven-game winning streak in February and March of 2017.

Mike Okauru, who keyed the decisive run, finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while Jaylen Sims scored 20 points on a turnover-free night.

Here’s what we learned as the Seahawks returned from a 14-day hiatus to gut out another close win.

The Closers

In four straight games, UNCW has been tied or trailing with fewer than seven minutes remaining, and in four straight games, the Seahawks have ended up celebrating a hard-fought victory.

That’s exactly what Coach Takayo Siddle had in mind during those summer grind sessions and every day since.

“I told them this when we were having our meetings in the summer, I said, ‘My one concern for this group is our toughness,’” he said. “I challenged them every single day to be tough and I think our mental toughness is really starting to grow. You cannot be on a five-game winning streak and all these close games and closing them out if you’re not tough, so I think we’re really starting to grow in that area.”

Wednesday’s second-half rally followed a familiar script, hitting 9 of 15 field goal attempts after the 9:06 mark, which included four layups or dunks and hitting 3 of 6 from 3-point range.

For the second time in three games, it was Okauru who took control with the game on the line, scoring eight straight points in a matter of just 59 seconds.

In the win over Campbell on Dec. 22, he scored 15 points in the final 11 minutes.

Meanwhile, Shykeim Phillips accounted for eight points in the final 4:10 to help put away the win over Elon (4-12, 1-2), reminiscent of his clutch buckets in the win over High Point.

Sims, meanwhile, managed 10 points in the second half on Wednesday night before turning it over to Okauru and Phillips to finish things off.

Nice of him to spread around a little glory, as he went for eight points in five minutes to close out the win over Delaware on Dec. 29.

All that’s to say Siddle has three talented scorers capable of — and comfortable with — taking over a close game when it counts.

That bodes awfully well for CAA play, where opposing defenses won’t be able to load up on stopping one guy to win a game.

Locking it Up

As much as the UNCW offense struggled at times early on Wednesday, it ultimately went back to defense, where the Seahawks truly looked like a team still trying to find its rhythm.

After Elon shot 50 percent in the first half, it was well on its way to an even better performance, hitting 8 of 13 field goal attempts up until the 9:06 media timeout.

Siddle, who was already upset with the defense at halftime, had seen enough.

“I got after them pretty good,” he said. “I didn’t think we were playing hard enough, I didn’t think we were physical enough, I didn’t think we were tough enough down on that end.

“Then, those guys, you’ve got to give them a lot of credit — I was giving them some tough love in that huddle — they came out and ramped their energy up and ramped their toughness up and we were able to get a lot of stops … it was all because of our defense.”

Out of the timeout, the Seahawks got going with Trazarien White’s jumper off an offensive rebound, then forced four straight Elon misses as Okauru began his explosion.

After the timeout, Elon missed 9 of 14 attempts from the field, committed two turnovers and didn’t grab an offensive rebound until a final-minute scramble.

In all, the Seahawks finished with eight points off turnovers and managed to get 22 points on the fast break.

The Baker’s Man

James Baker Jr. was fantastic from the jump on Wednesday night, getting started with a putback dunk in the first two minutes and living up to his reputation as UNCW’s Junkyard Dog.

The grad transfer has been thrust into a different role than the one he was used to at Morehead State, and after feeling things out, he’s settling in during this winning streak.

Baker made 4 of his 5 field goal attempts on his way to 10 points to go along with eight rebounds and three blocks.

Not only was he efficient and imposing, but he was also timely, delivering four offensive boards in the second half, while his block of Michael Graham at the rim with 6:35 to play led to a layup that gave UNCW its first lead since the opening minutes.

Baker’s eight rebounds were a season high for him, while his six offensive boards were UNCW’s highest total of the season. According to KenPom’s advanced stats, Baker’s offensive rating of 187 for this game was the best performance of his career.

Freebies

What was once a concern is now becoming a strength, as the Seahawks made 20 of 22 free throw attempts vs. Elon.

After struggling to a 16 of 28 performance at the line vs. High Point, UNCW sat at 115 of 178 (64.6 percent) for the season.

Whatever they’ve done in practice since then seems to be working, as they’ve made 52 of 65 (80 percent) over the past three games.

Even more impressive, the Seahawks have hit 35 of 43 attempts in the second half of those games, which have an average victory margin of 5.3 points.