Seahawks rally to top Drexel; clinch top-two CAA finish

UNCW 69, Drexel 63

They don’t ask how; just how many.

It wasn’t easy and it damn sure wasn’t pretty, but thanks to a couple of 3-pointers, a blocked shot and a held ball, the Seahawks rallied to get their 20th victory on Thursday night, topping Drexel 69-63 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

BOX SCORE

Trazarien White led UNCW with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Jaylen Sims grinded out 17 points and five rebounds as the Seahawks made every big play down the stretch.

A few takeaways as UNCW (20-8, 14-4) kept itself in the fight for the CAA regular-season crown.

Business as Usual

When the Hawks took a 46-39 lead with 10:58 remaining, I considered the possibility of going ahead by double digits and resting the starters down the stretch.

Then, 2 minutes and 14 seconds later, I snapped back to reality as the Dragons took a 47-46 lead, and it was clear we were in for another wild finish.

And when Drexel ran off six straight buckets to get a 54-52 lead with 6:32 to go?

“We were just in the huddle, just talking,” UNCW coach Takayo Siddle said. “Nobody was frantic, nobody was over-anxious; everybody was kind of cool and calm.

“My leader, (Sims) just told everybody, ‘We’re going to win the game, we’ve got to start getting stops,’ and that’s exactly what we did. Guys made big plays at the right time, and we came out with a great victory.

Down only two? With a whole six minutes? That’s nothing for a team that is now an absurd 11-3 in games decided by six points or fewer.

The Seahawks packed four highlight-reel plays into the final two minutes, as Mike Okauru and Jaylen Fornes both drilled contested 3-pointers, while White and Okauru blocked shots to preserve the lead.

You’d be happy to get one of those late in the second half, and somehow, UNCW packed all four plays into a 90-second stretch that decided the game.

In all, Drexel shot 2 of 9 from the field with three turnovers over the final six minutes.

“I didn’t do anything,” Siddle said. “I just told them we had to start getting stops, because at one point, they had scored five straight and we knew we had to get stops to win the ballgame.”

Coach of the Year

An eventful night around the league brought some clarity to the CAA regular-season title race and tournament seeding.

By virtue of UNCW’s victory, paired with losses for Hofstra and Delaware, the Seahawks clinched a top-two spot in the final standings, which is one hell of an accomplishment for Siddle’s second year leading the program.

Regardless of whether this ends with the No. 1 seed, Siddle deserves to win CAA Coach of the Year for taking a team that won one conference game last season, was predicted ninth in the league and blended in seven newcomers to finish at the top of the standings while making several tactical changes in December.

The Seahawks weren’t just predicted ninth in the CAA’s preseason poll — they were 29 points behind Towson in the voting, and just two points ahead of a William & Mary team that fell to 5-25 on Thursday night.

No one was really sure who would win the league this season — six teams received first-place votes — but voters were pretty certain it wouldn’t be UNCW.

All Siddle and the Seahawks have done is secure the program’s sixth 20-win season of the past 20 years, while having an opportunity to tie the school record for CAA victories on Saturday at Delaware.

With 14 conference wins, Siddle joins Kevin Keatts, Brad Brownell and Jerry Wainwright as the only men to accomplish that feat. With a win on Saturday, he’d tie Keatts and Brownell as the only UNCW coaches to lead the Hawks to 15-3 seasons in the CAA.

If that’s any indication of what’s to come over the next few weeks and next few seasons, it’s going to be a fun ride.

Trazarien on Turbo

A few times here, I speculated that White might have been dealing with some sort of nagging injury.

As far as I could tell, it was the only explanation for the freshman’s struggles, which arrived fast and furious in late January, when White went four entire games without getting a rebound. It just seemed impossible, given the energy and athleticism he’d played with earlier in the season.

Earlier this week, Siddle confirmed that White was indeed healthy, and he was just dealing with the kind of struggles that hit freshmen midway through their first conference season.

At one point, White went through a seven-game stretch where he had a total of nine rebounds and 24 points.

In a major credit to him and the coaching staff, White has returned to the relentless, energetic style that he used to make an impact early on this season, playing a major role in two narrow victories over Drexel and James Madison, piling up a total of 31 points and 22 rebounds.

His seven offensive boards accounted for half of UNCW’s total on Thursday night, using them to score 10 second-chance points.

Those buckets helped keep the Seahawks afloat all night.

“Our rebounding has suffered, and (Amari Williams) crushed on the glass. He had 19 and he had nine offensive — he’s hard to block out, he’s hard to block out — we have to gang rebound on him,” Siddle said. “We came up with some big ones, but I challenged our guys to clean that up, but at the same time, we weren’t making our shots, so, ‘Go to the offensive glass ourselves,’ so we got some stick-backs that kept the game close, and we were able to finish off strong.”

What’s Next

UNCW makes the short trip to meet Delaware on Saturday (4 p.m.) afternoon for its final game of the regular season, where the Blue Hens should be plenty motivated after a surprising 99-96 loss to Charleston on Thursday night.

At the same time, Towson will be tipping off at James Madison, which will be playing its final game as a member of the CAA, in the second game of a home-and-home.

In order to secure the top seed in the CAA Tournament, UNCW needs to take care of its own business, then hope the Tigers lose in Harrisonburg, or on Monday night, when Delaware travels back to Towson to resume their game that was suspended on Jan. 27 due to a slippery floor.

That one will pick up on Monday night at 6 p.m. with the Blue Hens leading 38-29 and 18:42 on the clock.

The team that ends up with the No. 1 seed also earns an automatic bid for the NIT, ensuring them a postseason trip in the event they don’t win the CAA Championship and play in the NCAA Tournament.

The Seahawks will begin the CAA Tournament on March 6 at either Noon or 6 p.m.

One tournament matchup is already set, as (No. 8) William & Mary and (No. 9) Northeastern are locked into the play-in game.