Beckham Wyrick scored 11 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as No. 1 UNC Wilmington staked a 17-rebound advantage en route to a 69-54 victory over No. 5 Northeastern on Sunday afternoon in CAA Semifinal action at the Richmond Coliseum. The win is the seventh in a row for the Seahawks and snaps a six-game winning streak for the Huskies.
UNC Wilmington (24-7) set the tone early, collecting the game's first five rebounds, while Northeastern struggled offensively when a couple of good looks simply didn't fall early on in the contest. The Seahawks staked a 15-5 advantage at 14:13 after Todd Hendley hit a jumper in the paint for UNCW. It was the third game in three days for Northeastern (19-11), as the Huskies struggled to shoot as well as it had the two days prior. The Huskies went into the first half trailing by 13 after shooting just 10-of-30 (33.3 percent) and being outrebounded, 25-15.
Aaron Davis and the Huskies opened up the half with fire as Davis connected for nine points and grabbed four rebounds during a 12-4 run to bring Northeastern to within five points with 16:46 on the clock. At the other end of the floor, UNCW's Mitch Laue attempted to post up Shawn James, but his shot attempt was rejected and the ball bounced free. Wyrick collected the loose ball and sent it to John Goldsberry, who drained a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to break the Husky momentum and start a 5-0 run to build the Seahawks' advantage back to double digits and to as many as 18 points.
Wyrick matched his career-high in boards, as UNCW outrebounded the Huskies 50-34. The Seahawk defense, which is known for its stifling defense, held Northeastern to just 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) from the floor in the second half and 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) from 3-point range. Hendley finished the day with 14 points and nine boards, while TJ Carter had 15 points, including 13 in the first half to help the Seahawks build their advantage early. Dejan Grkovic had 12 points and Vladimir Kuljanin and Mitch Laue each had six for UNCW. The victory helped the Seahawks match the program's record for wins in a season (24).
Jose Juan Barea led all scorers with 17 points and five assists, while Aaron Davis turned in 12 and Bobby Kelly has 10. James scored 12 points with seven rebounds and swatted eight more shots to add to his national lead. His 6.53 blocks per game currently ranks first in NCAA history and his 196 total blocks this season are second on the all-time list. He also set a CAA Tournament record with 20 blocks over NU's three games.
The Huskies' eyes now turn to the NIT, as their 19-11 overall record and Top 100 RPI makes a strong case for the tournament's selection committee. The field will be announced in one week.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs UNC Wilmington
3/5/06 3:30 pm at Richmond, Va. (Richmond Coliseum)
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VISITORS: Northeastern (19-11)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 Davis, Bennet....... f 0-3 0-2 2-2 1 0 1 1 2 1 2 0 0 22
21 James, Shawn........ f 5-12 2-4 1-2 0 7 7 1 13 1 0 8 1 35
05 Barea, Jose Juan.... g 6-19 2-9 3-4 1 2 3 4 17 5 6 0 3 35
12 Davis, Aaron........ g 3-11 2-5 4-4 3 4 7 1 12 1 1 0 0 32
22 Kelly, Bobby........ g 3-6 2-5 2-5 1 4 5 2 10 1 1 0 0 34
04 Cyprian, Chris...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
11 Martinez, Adrian.... 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 3 1 0 1 14
33 Cole, Janon......... 0-2 0-0 0-0 4 3 7 2 0 0 2 0 0 26
TEAM................ 3 1 4
Totals.............. 17-56 8-27 12-17 13 21 34 13 54 12 13 8 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-30 33.3% 2nd Half: 7-26 26.9% Game: 30.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-15 40.0% 2nd Half: 2-12 16.7% Game: 29.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 9-13 69.2% Game: 70.6% 2
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HOME TEAM: UNC Wilmington (24-7)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
34 Laue, Mitch......... f 2-7 0-1 2-2 1 3 4 1 6 1 1 1 2 21
41 Hendley, Todd....... f 7-15 0-0 0-1 6 3 9 2 14 1 3 0 1 29
42 Wyrick, Beckham..... f 4-8 2-3 1-2 6 11 17 2 11 2 2 0 1 37
02 Carter, T.J......... g 6-18 1-3 2-2 4 1 5 3 15 2 1 0 1 27
03 Goldsberry, John.... g 1-4 1-3 0-0 1 1 2 3 3 10 1 0 1 33
04 Fountain, Daniel.... 0-3 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 10
20 Lay, Taylor......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
22 Soyebo, Temi........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 12
31 Grkovic, Dejan...... 5-5 1-1 1-2 1 3 4 3 12 1 2 0 0 22
32 Kuljanin, Vladimir.. 3-7 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 0 6 0 1 1 0 8
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 28-68 5-12 8-11 21 29 50 16 69 17 11 2 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-38 50.0% 2nd Half: 9-30 30.0% Game: 41.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 1-2 50.0% Game: 41.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 8-11 72.7% Game: 72.7% 1
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Officials: Duke Edsall, Les Jones, Curtis Blair
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. UNC Wilmington-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 29 25 - 54
UNC Wilmington................ 42 27 - 69
CAA Men's Basketball Championship, Semifinals - Game 9
#1 UNCW advances to face winner of #2 GMU / #3 Hofstra in finals Monday.
James (NU) breaks tournament record for blocked shots (20).
Points in the paint-NU 18,UNCW 34. Points off turnovers-NU 6,UNCW 13.
2nd chance points-NU 12,UNCW 26. Fast break points-NU 9,UNCW 2.
Bench points-NU 0,UNCW 20. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-03:41, UNCW 2nd-02:22.
