Editors’s note: This article was written before the team’s loss to William & Mary on Wednesday.

When UNC Wilmington signed Kevin Keatts to take over their men’s basketball program last March, fans and players alike looked forward to what a coach of Keatts’ pedigree would bring to a program that had suffered through six straight losing seasons.

After being an assistant coach to Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals for the past three seasons, Keatts had a proven track record of being a great recruiter, and being a part of a great winner.

Now he just needed to bring that success to the Seahawks.

The former long-time coach of renowned prep school Hargrave Military Academy, Keatts inherited a roster full of players recruited by the previous coaching regime. The cupboard was not bare, as there were still talented and experienced players left on the roster, but it was yet to be seen how quickly they would gel in Keatts’ new system.

Fifteen games into the season, the Seahawks have an overall record of 8-7, already just one win shy of last season’s total, and a conference record of 3-1, equaling last season’s number of conference wins.

After blowing an 11-point halftime lead at home against Hofstra last week in a loss, the Seahawks have since hit a stride, pulling out three straight CAA victories.

The team traveled to CAA-favorite Northeastern on Jan. 5 where they dealt the Huskies a seven point loss. It had been nearly two years since UNCW had won a conference game on the road, their last being a 57-51 victory at Hofstra on Jan. 26, 2013.

UNCW carried that momentum into a home contest against defending-CAA champions Delaware, where they topped the Blue Hens 74-73 in overtime, their second overtime victory of the season.

The Seahawks trailed by six with 37 seconds left in regulation before taking advantage of turnovers by the visitors to force the extra period.

Senior Freddie Jackson never left the court, playing all 45 minutes, finishing with 20 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Junior Craig Ponder finished with 19 points, four rebounds, four assists, and sank two clutch free throws with three seconds remaining to force overtime.

“It’s conference time, and you can tell throughout the country and even in the CAA there’s going to be great games,” Keatts said after the game. “It’s unfortunate that somebody had to lose a game like that. I thought our guys were resilient.”

Several players came off the bench and delivered big plays throughout the game. Junior forward Dylan Sherwood, who has been bothered by an ankle injury recently, drained a three-pointer in both the second half and overtime to help propel the Seahawks.

“We had some guys who came in the game and made some really good plays,” Keatts said, “You talk about Dylan Sherwood who hadn’t played in a couple games, not the minutes he would like, and he came in and made shots.”

Sophomore C.J. Gettys also came off the bench and contributed eight points, eight rebounds, and five blocks. Gettys made several hustle plays that didn’t show up in the stat sheet, setting screens to get shooters open and diving after loose balls, none more so than the play that helped secure the victory for UNCW.

With the game tied at 73 in the final minute of overtime, Sherwood missed a three that would’ve given his team the lead. Gettys then sprawled onto the floor where he snagged the ball and passed it to senior Addison Spruill, who was fouled.

After missing the first free throw, Spruill sank the second to give UNCW the one-point victory.

“When you see stuff like that, when you see a seven footer just laying it all out and getting on the floor you have no choice but to give it all to the team,” Jackson said. “We’ve been doing that since day one, since coach got here, and I feel like that carried over into that game.”

“I think since I’ve been here that’s the first game that we’ve won like that at the end of the game,” Spruill added.

After winning the tight victory over the Blue Hens, UNCW dominated wire-to-wire over visiting Drexel on Saturday, earning a 64-57 decision and a third straight conference win.

Senior Freddie Jackson has become instrumental in UNCW’s success this season. The New Hanover graduate currently leads the team in scoring, averaging 15 points per contest. Jackson is also tied with Spruill for the team-lead in rebounds per game (6.3 rpg), and leads the team in minutes played per contest, being on the court for 37 minutes per game.

The younger members of the team have improved throughout the year as well, specifically freshman guard Jordon Talley. Talley has started each of the team’s last four contests, calmly leading the offense while taking advantage of scoring chances of his own, including finishing with a season-high 21 points in the win over Northeastern.

“Jordon’s been tremendous,” Keatts said. “What Jordon’s given us is a lot of effort, he’s been a tremendous defender on the ball and certainly, believe it or not, a lot of these guys are following his actions because he’s playing so hard.”

While the Seahawks early success in the CAA has raised eyebrows throughout the league (the team was picked to finish ninth out of 10 teams in the annual preseason poll), the team still has a long way to go in Keatts’ first season at the helm.

UNCW has 14 conference games remaining, with eight of them on the road.

Nevertheless, the team’s recent performance provides hope for the rest of the season. If there’s one thing Keatts wants his players to have in his inaugural season as head coach, it’s the right mindset in each and every game.

“We’ve preached since I’ve taken the job that the conditioning will kick in, believe that you’re going to win the game” Keatts said.

“Our motto is we don’t stop playing until the clock hits zero.”