“This is your team,” he said to the remaining crowd. “We can’t tell you how much we appreciate you.”

Whatever inspired the coach to speak directly to the season-best crowd of 4,206, it was a perfect case of sensing the moment, rising to the occasion and making an impact by doing the little things right.

He didn’t speak for long, but his words carried incredible weight for a community and fanbase that has been starved of nights like these for far too long.

It’s not unlike a few guys who grabbed the mic and seized moments on the court.

After sitting for nearly seven minutes due to foul trouble, White came in to finish the game strong, hitting 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute.

Jamahri Harvey, who played 16 minutes vs. Northeastern on Thursday, was thrust into the fire on Saturday, scoring a season-high 14 points — including 12 in the first half when the Seahawks desperately needed to get the offense rolling.

“Think about at the end — Trazarien was sitting over there for a while,” Siddle said. “He came in and grabbed some big rebounds and made his free throws. Jamahri Harvey stepped up in a major way today; how about that? He didn’t play much — he played (16) minutes — the last game; he stepped up in a major way.”

For James Baker Jr., it was nine points and six rebounds to go with four blocks to help close the door. He denied a shot that would have potentially tied the game in the final two minutes, another that would have stretched Hofstra’s lead to two possessions, and one massive rejection during the Pride’s desperation scramble in the final minute.

“You look at his stat-line and then at the end of it, you add 10 deflections to it,” Siddle said. “He played a like a man tonight. That was a total team effort right there and I’m beyond proud of those guys.”

More Like Mike

Now, that was the guy we’ve gotten to know.

After a five-game run where Mike Okauru averaged 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2 assists on 16/45 from the field, including 4/19 from 3-point range, the Hawks needed him to get back in the groove on Saturday night.

“Leading up to the game, he had a good energy about him; he was getting extra work in,” Siddle said.

That was compounded early as foul trouble struck, with Shykeim Phillips, White, Fornes and Harvey all forced to play limited minutes.

After knocking down a couple of 3-pointers in the first half, Okauru exploded to score 13 of his 19 points in the second half, adding six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Overall, he looked more decisive in his attacking, and didn’t allow one bad play to throw him off his game.

In fact, he seemed to embrace the chippy play, just as he did in the win over Delaware on Dec. 29, finishing with 15 points.

“I knew it was coming at some point because he’s too good of a player for him not to be efficient,” Siddle said. “He hadn’t been efficient in the last five games, and he came out man, he gave us a huge lift with his energy, he made shots, he was on the backboard. That kid is resilient, man. He’s resilient.”

Tale of Two Halves

UNCW’s defense was lacking early on, but the Seahawks were showing some signs of life by forcing nine Hofstra (13-8, 5-3) turnovers.

The Pride’s star trio of guards Aaron Estrada (11 points), Zach Cooks (10) and Jalen Ray (9) were torching the Hawks off the bounce, attempting 15 layups to go with two dunks.

As bad as it might have looked with Hofstra shooting 57.7 percent from the field, Siddle and the staff didn’t see anything that couldn’t be fixed with a lot of heart and a little strategic adjustment.

“We started taking it personal,” he said. “All they were doing was setting a pick and roll, and getting of our big guys on (Aaron Estrada) or (Jaylen Ray) and spacing out and driving us.”

With an adjustment to how the Hawks would cover pick-and-roll with defensive switches, UNCW dug in and forced Hofstra to shoot 10 for 28 (35.7 percent) from the field.

“Man, did they strap-up in the second half,” Siddle said. “ (Estrada) was playing well in the first half, (Cooks) was playing well in the first half; they were pretty much non-existent in the second half.”

Estrada, who looked to be on track for another 30-point night, was held to six points in the second half, while Cooks had five and Ray finished with two points.

What’s Next

It sounds like Siddle will allow his team to get some rest on Sunday morning, but the Hawks will eventually meet to get back to work ahead of Monday night’s game vs. Drexel at Trask.

This will mark UNCW’s eighth game in 19 days.

“As we progress, our system that we put in, part of our process preparing for games, they know what it is,” Siddle said. “We don’t practice a bunch now; it’s a lot of scouting, we get a lot of shots up, a lot of free throws. We’re locked into the scouting report, they’ve bought into our process, and they know what we expect of them.”

Quotes of Note

Frankly, it’s getting late, so here are a few more interesting quotes.

Fornes on the team’s bond

We’re a family. This is the closest team I’ve ever been on — I’ve been on a lot of teams — it’s real genuine around here. The show of humility, you’re not bigger than the next man in the locker room, so it’s easy for us.

Siddle on Jerry Wainwright and 2002 CAA champions

Ever since I ‘ve taken the job, he’s been great to me. He’s been a really good mentor to me, we talk very often; he sends me texts after every game, we spend a little time together. He’s been great to me, and he’s been a great mentor.

For him to be able to come back to Trask for the first time in a long time, and for us to win, man, that was special. And for the 2002 championship team to be here to experience that with our guys, I couldn’t be more proud.

Siddle on the Trask crowd

Man, it’s the best in the country; I don’t care what anybody says. It’s the best in the country and by far, the best in our league. What a special fanbase we have, from our students, to our supporters, our donors — everybody — the community. This is their team, this is Wilmington’s team, and boy, did they put on tonight.