The UNC Wilmington men’s basketball team played its home opener Saturday night, defeating Division II Wingate 80-61. The game provided a good chance for coach Buzz Peterson to tinker with lineups and reach farther down the bench to get the Seahawks’ reserves some good looks. With the win, UNCW climbs back to .500 on the early season. A few positives and negatives from Saturday night’s victory:

Positives:

1.) Shane Reybold’s stat line jumps off the page. The senior forward was the story of the first half, putting up 12 rebounds in 12 minutes. Reybold finished with 19 boards, two shy of UNCW’s single game record.  As a whole, UNCW dominated the glass, out rebounding Wingate 55-35.

2.) UNCW got a lot of production from their bigs. Forward Cedrick Williams had an efficient game, scoring a team-high 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Williams showed off some nice touch on a few turn-around jumpers, too. Luke Hager and Dylan Sherwood both came off the bench and had their moments; Sherwood’s vicious two-hand slam at the 10-minute mark of the first half brought the crowd of 3,500 to their feet.

3.) The Seahawks’ transition offense looked like a real strength tonight. UNCW outscored Wingate 20-7 in fast break opportunities. Both Eblen and Dixon looked good in transition, Eblen in particular. The graduate-student played a game-high 27 minutes and looked comfortable running the offense, recording four assists, one block and one steal.

Negatives:

1.)   The ‘Hawks’ perimeter defense was lackluster at best; Wingate guards penetrated with ease. If it were not for an abysmal 28% shooting effort from Wingate, this game might have looked very different. Adjusting to the new hand check rules implemented this offseason might be part of the issue, but if UNCW struggled with Division II Wingate, conference play will be a nightmare.

2.)   Who’s going to play besides Eblen? Dixon got the start tonight, playing 19 minutes and scoring seven points on 2-of-6 shooting. He was sloppy with the ball at times, turning the ball over a team-high four times. Craig Ponder, Freddie Jackson and Tanner Milson all got minutes, playing 18, 17, and 17 respectively. It’ll be interesting to see who pulls away with that “sixth man” role as the season progresses.

3.)   As the ‘Hawks pulled away, the intensity level dropped noticeably. The last 8 minutes were particularly underwhelming, as UNCW players settled for contested jumpers on offense and were slow to get back on defense. For a game that was very clearly a “try-out” of sorts for some, that loss of intensity wasn’t encouraging.

All in all, a good (albeit expected) win for the Seahawks. Winning your home opener by 19 points is never a bad thing. UNCW plays three on the road this week (Liberty, Western Kentucky and Marshall) before returning to Trask for a Nov. 26 matchup with Campbellsville.