Call it a defensive battle, call it a slow-paced game, call it two tired teams who have each played four games in the past eight days. Or call it a conference game.

The UNC Wilmington men’s basketball team lost its second game in a row to Old Dominion University, Wednesday night, 53-48. The Seahawks (8-12, 4-6) have lost five of their last six to a far more experienced Monarch (13-9, 8-2) team.

The game was one of the tightest the Seahawks have played this year. With a halftime score of only 18-17, the teams stayed fairly balanced the entire night. Both the Seahawks and Monarchs had similar numbers with points in the paint (26 to 28), rebounds (45 to 44), and three point field goals (four each).

Perhaps the biggest differences and the biggest cause to the Seahawk defeat were ODU’s ability to score on the fast break and off of the bench. The Monarchs were able to get 25 points from their reserves to UNCW’s nine, and 13 fast-break points versus six.

Despite recent losses, freshman guard Adam Smith believes the team is continuing to improve.

“I think we’ve played our best basketball over the last two or three games,” he said. “Defensively we’re really clicking, and we’re where we need to be. The offense is going to come.”

Smith, who led the team in scoring with 14 points on 7 of 19 shooting from the field, kept the crowd enthused throughout the entire game with mid-range jumpers and a three three-pointers to keep the Seahawks close.

Junior Keith Rendleman had difficulty scoring against the Monarchs tonight, with only five points in the first half, and finishing with 12. However, he did not struggle on the boards, as he corralled 17 rebounds.

“We’ve been doing a great job on defense,” Rendleman said. “The main thing about these two teams and the way we lost is not knocking down shots. We are getting open looks, and these are shots that normally fall. The past couple nights they have not fallen for us… it had been it would been a totally different game.”

With these close games, UNCW coach Buzz Peterson believes it’s hard to see that they are improving. “We want to win so bad,” Peterson said. “It’s our job as a staff to keep their heads up and keep encouraging them.”

The maturation process continues for the Seahawks as they head to Towson, Saturday. The Tigers, who have a fairly one-sided losing record this season, could be a good chance for the Seahawks to get a win and gain confidence before they come back to Trask Coliseum to face Georgia State.