In Short: Cape Fear Men's Basketball shuts down Caldwell and hands them their first conference loss of the season.
Highlights:
The Sea Devils continue to ride the high of last week's buzzer-beating conference win as they returned to the Schwartz Center tonight to take on the Caldwell Cobras - the current Region 10 Conference leaders. Prior to tonight's matchup the Cobras were 7-0 in conference play and 20-2 overall for the season.
Cape Fear showed up to the Schwartz Center locked in and ready to fight for their standing in the Region 10 Conference against the top-ranked Cobras. The Sea Devils started off incredibly strong and fast-paced - securing their lead within the first 10 minutes of play. A couple of clutch defensive rebounds turning into fast breaks, followed by some big alley-oops and solid layups, put the Sea Devils up significantly and kept the positive energy flowing throughout the floor and the bench.
Freshman Khalil Marshall was a defensive MVP as he was the catalyst for forcing turnovers and keeping the Sea Devils in check on defense. Korey Richardson led the charge offensively with 22 total points to finish the night and was a major component of the Sea Devils' 52-33 lead to finish the first half.
Moving into the second half, Cape Fear started things off with a few close calls and careless turnovers, but quickly recovered and made adjustments in real time. It took an overall team effort to regain synchronization and gain momentum again over the Cobras. Caldwell continued to drain well-selected shots and utilized their size and speed to close the score gap mildly in the second half.
Josh Laney, Keishon Porter, and Daniel Ransom each stepped up to the plate in unique ways to keep the Sea Devils strong and finish the game with a win. Cape Fear maintained solid ball control, communicated well on defense, and hyped each other up until the very end.
"Huge win for us and everyone played well," says Head Coach Mark Lane. "They all bought into the game plan that we worked on all week and we're super proud."
Up Next: Cape Fear Men's Basketball will return to the Schwartz Center tomorrow at 3PM to take on Denmark Tech and celebrate Military Appreciation Day presented by the Army National Guard.
