Denzel Ingram floated a lob from half court to Chris Flemmings as time expired in the first half of Sunday’s exhibition against Mount Olive. 

Flemmings caught the pass just beneath the hoop and laid the ball in, putting an exclamation point on a dominant 20 minutes of basketball in which the Seahawks began their path to a 117-65 win. 

UNCW took the floor against the Trojans with a healthy roster and did not miss a beat in the absence of Jordan Talley, who was announced to be suspended indefinitely this week. Led by C.J. Bryce’s 19 points and five rebounds, the Seahawks showed Division II Mount Olive why they were picked to win the Colonial Athletic Association in 2017.

“It starts with recruiting, and for us it’s always been the mindset that we’re not going to let one guy change who we are,” UNCW coach Kevin Keatts said of making up for Talley’s contributions. “[Bryce] deserves it. I’ve said that C.J. Bryce is the hardest worker I’ve had since I took this job… He didn’t take a day off during the summer and it’s nice to see the ball go in for him.”

Joining Bryce in leading the charge was fellow sophomore Devontae Cacok, who totaled the lone double-double for either team with 12 points and 11 rebounds in 17 minutes of play. He acted as a force in the low post after getting the starting nod by drawing fouls and catching lobs from whoever decided to throw one up for him.

Cacok also shot 6-8 from the free throw line. He shot 11-27 from that mark all last year.

“I feel like I’ve been building confidence over the summer,” he said. “I put in a lot of work and a lot of time into this season… [Starting] felt good, it was a great confidence booster to come in and start the exhibition game.”

The biggest surprise of the day for many came from redshirt sophomore JaQuel Richmond. A transfer from Middle Tennessee State that sat out last year due to NCAA guidelines, he came off the bench in the first half and put on a clinic offensively.

He totaled 17 points and three rebounds while shooting 6-12 from the floor, including one made three-pointer.

“I wanted to get him a lot of reps — especially at the point guard position,” said Keatts. “I think he did a good job running the team for us. Certainly, it’s not easy when you haven’t played for over a year when you sit out, but I thought he had a really good floor game today.”

Overall, UNCW shot 55.6% from the floor (37% from three) and recorded assists on 23 of 45 made baskets. Flemmings, voted Preseason CAA Player of the Year, recorded 12 points and six rebounds in just 13 minutes. He was limited by a cautious Keatts, who chose to use Flemmings conservatively due to a lingering leg injury.

A large point of improvement for the Seahawks over the summer was to cut down on team fouls. They recorded 13 on Sunday — much fewer than the 20-plus fouls they averaged per game a year ago.

“You might want to frame this — 13 fouls for us throughout the game, that’s pretty good,” Keatts said. “I think we’re adjusting to it. I don’t want to speak too soon, it is an exhibition game… But I was very happy.”

UNCW tips off the regular season on Friday against Claflin at 7 p.m.