HAMPTON, Va. (Feb. 10, 2024) … With a loud and exuberant crowd of area school students on hand, UNCW (18-6, 9-3) jumped to a quick 8-2 lead in the game's opening minutes and downed Hampton (5-20, 0-12), 95-65, before 1,949 fans at the Hampton Convocation Center. The Seahawks used a balanced scoring attack and a pressure defense to lead by 21 at halftime and as many as 32 points in the second half. UNCW shot a sizzling 60.3 percent from the field on the day.

UNCW has won eight of its last nine games and the Seahawks are tied for first place in the CAA with Charleston and Drexel at 8-3.

Jerry Deng was a bright a spot for the Pirates. Coming off the bench, Deng led the Pirates with team-highs for points (nine) and rebounds (four) in the first half and finished with 19 points and six rebounds on the day.

After its quick start, UNCW upped the lead 24-12 before Hampton reeled off five straight points to close the gap to 24-17. An 8-0 Seahawk run put UNCW up 32-17.

UNCW never trailed and shot a torrid 64.5 percent from the field in the opening half. The swarming Seahawk defense limited Hampton to just 28.6 percent shooting from the field and UNCW outrebounded the Pirates, 20-14.

The Seahawks scored the final 10 points of the half as Hampton made just one of its last 11 shots from the field. The first half ended with a bang as UNCW's Donovan Newby flung a three-quarter court shot toward the basket as the horn sounded. The ball slid through the net, giving the Seahawks a 46-25 lead.

UNCW's Trazarien White led all scorers in the first half with 12 points. Newby tallied 11 points and KJ Jenkins had 10 points.

UNCW scored 10 of the first 12 points to start the second half to go up 56-27. Deng canned a pair of three-pointers but the UNCW lead grew to 31 with 7:31 left.

Back-to-back-to-back three-pointers by Tyrese Mullen got the Hampton crowd back into the game but eight straight Seahawk points put UNCW up by 32. Mullen scored a basket in the final seconds to make the final score, 95-65.

Mullen grabbed nine rebounds and scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. Five UNCW players scored double-figures including Jerkins (16), Newby (14), White (14), Phillips (13), and Maleeck Harden-Hayes (11).