Bolivia, NC - Cape Fear men's basketball defeated conference rival Brunswick Community College, 103-82. Alston Davis led the team with 19 points and six rebounds, while Trae Bryant finished with 17 points, five assists, and four rebounds.
Alonzo Tyson opened the scoring for both teams, but two 3-pointers from the Dolphins gave them an early 6-5 lead. Things remained close through the first six minutes, with Brunswick maintaining a one possession lead.
Cape Fear struggled defending the paint at first, as the Dolphins' Bobby Stenborg scored seven of his game high 22 points in the first seven minutes, which helped Brunswick take a 18-13 lead.
But the Sea Devils responded with a 9-2 run, taking a two point lead with around 11 minutes remaining. They pushed their lead to eight with help from five straight points from Alston Davis. A 3-pointer from Trevor Willis then extended their lead to 11.
The Dolphins briefly cut the score to eight, but Cape Fear ended the half strong, and entered halftime leading 52-37.
Scoring was balanced in the first half, with Trae Bryant and Davis leading with 11 points a piece. Alonzo Tyson also scored in double figures with 10, finding success on the lob. They shot 52.6 percent in the half, and 40 percent from 3. They forced Brunswick into 11 turnovers, and scored 16 points off them.
The second half started well for Cape Fear, who opened on a 14-9 run in the first four minutes to push their lead to 20. Jacque Brown, who was limited in the first half, was able to knock down a few shots and get into double figures in scoring.
The Sea Devils maintained a comfortable lead for much of the half, but it felt much closer given the intensity of the game.
Head coach Ryan Mantlo felt the stakes of the game -- playing on the road, in your conference rival's gym -- contributed to the intensity.
"You're on that edge in a rivalry game, and it has that extra buzz."
Brunswick threatened to start a comeback on more than one occasion, but Cape Fear did just enough to prevent it. Turnovers continued to plague Brunswick, making any chance of a comeback more difficult.
Six players ended up in double figures for Cape Fear, who finished the game shooting 50.0 percent from the field.
One aspect of the game coach Mantlo was pleased with was his team's defense, which forced 27 turnovers. Mantlo believes the team is improving on that end, seeing it in stretches tonight.
"Our effort is beginning to come, now we just have to channel it in the right way. I think we [played well defensively] in a lot of stretches for a long period of time, so we'll take it, but we'll go back to practice and make it better."
The win improves Cape Fear to 21-7 on the season, and 5-5 in conference play. Their next game is Saturday, February 25th, where they will take on Denmark Technical College at 3:00 p.m.
Courtesy of Nick Denning
