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CAA Tournament • Semifinals UNC Wilmington 69, Delaware 54 March 3, 2002 Blue Hens Fight Back, But Fall to Top Seed Seahawks Ryan Iversen led the Blue Hens with 15 points and six assists off the bench RICHMOND, VA - The University of Delaware men's basketball squad ended its season Sunday, but it didn't go down without a fight. Taking on the No. 1 seed UNC Wilmington Seahawks in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals at the Richmond Coliseum, No. 5 seed Delaware fought back to trim an 18-point lead to just six inside the five-minute mark before the Seahawks got back on track to pull away for a 69-54 victory. UNC Wilmington, the regular season champion, set a school record for wins as it improved to 21-9 and advanced to the CAA title game Monday night for the second straight year and for the fifth time in the last seven season. They will face the winner of Sunday afternoon's semifinal game between No. 3 seed Virginia Commonwealth and upstart No. 10 seed Hofstra. Forward Ed Williams led a balanced effort with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Delaware (14-16) got a gutsy effort from junior guard Ryan Iversen who came off the bench to notch team-highs with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists, but the Hens failed in their bid to advance to the league championship game for a fifth straight year after advancing to the America East finals each of the past four years, winning titles in 1998 and 1999. The loss also snapped a season-best four-game winning streak for the Blue Hens. "It was a physical game and they played very physical against us," said Delaware head coach David Henderson, whose young team had no seniors this season, "They use every inch of their ability. One of the things you want to see as a coach is for your team to compete. We came through the season with a lot of ups and downs, but came together fully as a team at the end of the season." UNC Wilmington caught fire despite the Hens holding CAA Player of the Year Brett Blizzard to just eight points and just one field goal. But it was the UNCW supporting cast that picked it up. Williams led the way, including hitting a three-pointer with 2:47 left to up the lead to 13 points. Center Craig Callahan and guard Tim Burnette each added 13 points and Stewart Hare came off the bench to add 11 points, including three of UNCW's seven three-pointers. Blizzard, coming off a 29-point effort vs. JMU in his team's semifinal win Saturday, hit his only field goal with 3:29 left that upped the lead to 10. UNC Wilmington took a 10-point lead into halftime at 33-23 and increased it to as much as 18 points at 52-34 with 9:35 remaining. But the Blue Hens failed to give up, countering with a 16-4 over the next four minutes and 47 seconds to cut the lead to 56-50 on a falling layup off a fastbreak by guard Mike Ames (14 points). Ames and Iversen combined for 10 points during the run. But that six-point margin was the closest the Hens would get. Delaware missed its next five shots while UNC Wilmington got baskets from Burnette, Blizzard, and the three from Williams to go up by 13 and then connected on six free throws in the final 1:46. The Seahawks shot well all day, hitting 23 of 45 shots from the field (.511), 7 of 13 from beyond the three-point line (7 of 13), and 16 of 18 from the line. Delaware managed just 38.6 percent shooting, including just 5 of 21 from the three-point line, and got to the foul line just nine times. Iversen finished with 16 rebounds in two CAA playoff games and averaged a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game for the season, becoming the first guard to lead the team in rebounding in school history. Delaware freshman point guard Mike Slattery, who guarded Blizzard most of the day, finished with nine points and just one turnover. AGATE: Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score U. of Delaware vs UNC Wilmington 3/3/02 3:08 p.m. at Richmond Coliseum - Richmond, VA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: U. of Delaware TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 01 Hunter, Vohn........ f 4-12 1-8 0-1 1 2 3 1 9 2 1 0 3 28 24 Wentt, Robin........ f 0-1 0-0 2-2 3 0 3 1 2 0 2 1 0 17 44 Sessoms, Maurice.... c 2-5 0-1 0-1 1 2 3 2 4 0 1 0 0 21 03 Slattery, Mike...... g 2-6 1-3 0-0 1 1 2 3 5 2 1 0 2 31 10 Ames, Mike.......... g 6-11 2-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 14 1 1 0 1 27 22 Rowland, Austen..... 0-7 0-4 0-0 1 0 1 2 0 1 1 0 1 23 30 Smith, Calvin....... 2-3 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 4 5 0 0 0 0 16 32 Iversen, Ryan....... 6-12 1-2 2-3 5 1 6 2 15 3 2 0 2 27 42 Hindenlang, Dave.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 10 TEAM................ 1 2 3 1 Totals.............. 22-57 5-21 5-9 15 12 27 19 54 10 10 1 9 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-23 39.1% 2nd Half: 13-34 38.2% Game: 38.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 3-11 27.3% Game: 23.8% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3- 4 75.0% 2nd Half: 2- 5 40.0% Game: 55.6% 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: UNC Wilmington TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 21 Williams, Ed........ f 6-9 2-2 2-3 3 7 10 3 16 1 2 0 0 35 23 Terrell, Anthony.... f 3-4 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 1 8 1 2 1 0 19 54 Callahan, Craig..... c 4-11 1-3 4-4 2 3 5 2 13 3 3 0 1 35 11 Blizzard, Brett..... g 1-3 0-0 6-7 2 1 3 1 8 2 3 0 1 34 22 Burnette, Tim....... g 5-9 1-2 2-2 1 3 4 2 13 3 1 1 1 34 00 Coombs, Aaron....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 10 Chapman, Lou........ 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 2 0 1 2 0 1 13 40 Hare, Stewart....... 4-7 3-5 0-0 0 1 1 1 11 1 0 1 1 25 TEAM................ 1 4 5 Totals.............. 23-45 7-13 16-18 12 24 36 14 69 12 13 3 5 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-24 50.0% 2nd Half: 11-21 52.4% Game: 51.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5- 8 62.5% 2nd Half: 2- 5 40.0% Game: 53.8% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4- 5 80.0% 2nd Half: 12-13 92.3% Game: 88.9% 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Technical fouls: U. of Delaware-None. UNC Wilmington-None. Attendance: na Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total U. of Delaware................ 23 31 - 54 UNC Wilmington................ 33 36 - 69 - DDD-