Courtesy of Star News -
Sea Devils make second half adjustment to pull away for victory
At halftime, Cape Fear Community College men's basketball coach Ryan Mantlo talked with his team about altering its approach. The Sea Devils and Brunswick Community College had fired away for 16 made 3-pointers through the first 20 minutes, but CFCC had gone a significant stretch without a make.
The Sea Devils made the adjustment when it mattered most.
After the Dolphins cut the lead to eight, CFCC responded with an 8-1 run that turned momentum in an 88-74 win.
"I thought we took a lot of early shots and fortunately we made them in the first half, but towards the end of the first half, we got cold and you could see that momentum shift," Mantlo said. "So our focus in the second half was downhill, everything was going to be downhill. I thought the boys did a really good job doing that."
The Sea Devils (13-6 overall, 2-0 Region 10) led by as many as 15 in the first half but settled for a seven-point advantage due to a late slump. The Dolphins (10-8, 0-4) clawed back in the game early, trimming the lead to eight on a Devin Hutchinson layup. He paced BCC with 22.
From there, CFCC answered by attacking the rim. The Sea Devils got six free throw opportunities, converting five. On the miss, CFCC got the rebound, setting up a 3-pointer from Eric Fox. After combining for 16 makes from long range in the first half, the two teams hit just five total threes in the second half.
"Coach just talked about going inside out because we were settling too much. We just came back after half aggressive and set the tone," CFCC forward Zaqwaun Matthews said. He finished with 15.
BCC was never able to trim the gap back to single-digits the rest of the way, falling behind by as many as 23 shortly after CFCC's run.
After shooting 21 combined free throws in the first half, the two squads had 22 attempts from the charity stripe with 6:30 left in the game, slowing the pace significantly.
The Dolphins got the margin under 20 late, but were never able to get much closer the rest of the way.
"They put multiple shooters on the floor at all time. They can stop a run with one shot," BCC coach Walter Shaw said. "They're a good team, but think we present some challenges to them and maybe we can capitalize on them when we see them again."
Alston Davis led the way for CFCC with 17. BCC's Omari Wilson had 21 for his team.
– Reporter Alex Riley can be reached at 910-343-2034 or Alex.Riley@StarNewsOnline.com.
