Wilmington, NC - Cape Fear men's basketball scored a school record for points in a game in their win over Fayetteville Tech, 129-80. Tai-He Jeter lead with 22 points off the bench, while Trae Bryant finished with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
The game was close in the early minutes, but opened up midway through the first half. A block by Parrish Tinsley on the first possession led to a fast break layup by Jerick Haynes. Fayetteville Tech briefly took their only lead of the game off a 3-point shot, but Alston Davis answered with a 3-pointer of his own to re-take it.
The Sea Devils were active on the defensive end, and forced a number of turnovers in the early minutes. While in control of the game early, Cape Fear didn't shoot the ball particularly well for this portion of the game, which kept the score relatively close.
With under 12 minutes remaining, Haynes knocked down his second 3-pointer of the night, then Trevor Willis would follow up with a 3-pointer of his own. This helped Cape Fear open up a 25-11 lead with 11:40 left in the first half. Cape Fear continued to extend their lead as the half wore on. DeVarte Watson would slam home an alley-oop to give the Sea Devils their first 20 point lead of the night.
Cape Fear's defense improved as the game progressed, as they forced the Trojans into tough shots and a number of shot clock violations. They held Fayetteville Tech to 25.9 percent shooting in the half, and forced them into 10 turnovers, which lead to 9 points.
The Sea Devils would head into halftime up 56-29. Trae Byrant and Haynes both scored in double figures in the first half, with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Tinsley finished with a near double-double of eight points, and eight rebounds.
Things continued to go well for Cape Fear in the second half. Buckets by Haynes, Bryant, and Jacque Brown would extend their lead past 30 with 17:30 minutes remaining. The game would get exciting shortly after, as the Sea Devils would score 12 points in two minutes, capped off by a one-handed alley-oop by Haynes.
Cape Fear got particularly hot from the 3-point line in the second half. After scoring eight in the first, they would knock down 10 in the second, shooting 54.6 percent from the field for the game.
With the win no longer in doubt, Cape Fear was able to rotate lineups for the rest of the game. Despite the large lead, however, the Sea Devils remained focused on both ends of the floor. The school record came into play with 2 minutes remaining, with Cape Fear sitting at 126 points. Then, a 3-pointer by Davis would put them over the mark to set a new school record.
Afterwards, head coach Ryan Mantlo was pleased with the win, and setting the record.
"I thought we played hard, obviously scoring 129 points is awesome, but [there is] a lot of room to grow defensively."
With his team playing again in less than 24 hours, coach Mantlo would like to see his team continue to bring the same intensity for 40 minutes.
"We've had time off, so now it's time for us to build upon what we've done."
The win improves Cape Fear to 5-2 on the season. They will play again on Saturday, December 3rd, where they will take on Central Carolina Community College at home. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
Courtesy of Nick Denning
