UNC Wilmington trailed William & Mary by eight points with 7:52 remaining in the first half, facing the largest deficit it had seen in five conference games thus far.

Led by lights-out shooting and recommitting to its press defense, the Seahawks went on a 25-6 run to end the half and on their way to a 101-77 win and the best conference start in program history.

Six UNCW players finished in double figures. Preseason CAA Player of the Year Chris Flemmings, C.J. Bryce, and Denzel Ingram netted 18 points apiece while Devontae Cacok and Ambrose Mosley scored 14 each.

“That’s how we like to play,” said Bryce, UNCW’s leading scorer. “We’re the highest scoring team in the conference and whenever we play fast (against teams like William & Mary) we’re always going to have the advantage.”

UNCW (16-2, 5-0 CAA) didn’t feel it needed to worry when facing the early deficit. It reasserted its press defense halfway through the first half in order to take away the easy looks at the rim William & Mary was living off of.

Once the shots stopped falling, the Tribe crumbled.

“One of the things we talked about at halftime was sitting down and guarding and doing a great job on the defensive end,” said UNCW coach Kevin Keatts. “I think these guys responded… We beat a very good basketball team tonight that is capable of beating anybody in the country because of its ability to shoot the basketball.”

The Seahawks reached triple digits in scoring for the first time since 2009 on Thursday. They outshot the Tribe by nearly 20 percent in the second half, sinking 22-of-34 field goals in the final 20 minutes.

Keatts’s team relished in the increased amount of turnovers the Tribe (8-7, 2-2) committed as the night went along. The Seahawks finished with 32 points scored off turnovers.

Cacok continued his dominance inside the paint for UNCW, grabbing 13 rebounds and five steals to go with his 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting. The sophomore leads the nation in field goal percentage at 83.1 percent going into the weekend.

“You know, I’m disappointed in him because he’s usually 8-for-8 and then he missed one,” Keatts said, joking about his center. “He’s playing well. He’s got to become a focal point of your defense now, where in the past we didn’t have anyone to finish inside.”

UNCW will look to continue its CAA dominance Saturday evening as it hosts Hofstra in Trask Coliseum. 

It will be the first meeting between the two school since last March’s CAA championship game. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.