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Buies Creek, NC- As the days grow longer, the college basketball season dwindles.
With just 2-3 regular season games remaining for most teams around the country, the stakes peak as teams fight for final positioning before heading to their conference tournaments. Thursday's meeting between UNC Wilmington and Campbell featured the 2nd place and 5th place teams going head-to-head. Add in the fact that it was senior night for Campbell and a rivalry matchup, it set up for a good contest.
The rivalry between UNC Wilmington and Campbell dates back to the 1950s, despite both teams only sharing a conference since 2023. Now contemporaries in the CAA, this latest matchup had major seeding implications for the upcoming CAA Championship in Washington D.C. Adding some personal tension to the matchup was the reunion of several former teammates. Campbell forward Eric Van Der Heijden spent his last two seasons in Wilmington. Campbell guard Nolan Dorsey and UNC Wilmington guard Bo Montgomery were teammates at Holy Cross from 2021-23. Since Campbell joined the conference, the games between the two teams have always been competitive, but this latest contest turned out to be an exception.
To open the game, UNCW put its mark on the contest early. By the first media timeout, they led 17-4. Donovan Newby is a savvy veteran leader, unfazed when he is on the floor. He had the game in the palm of his hand. The Camels could not get going offensively in the first half until the final frame. At the 4:57 mark of the first half, the Seahawks ballooned their lead to 20 on a Khamari McGriff bucket inside. The Camels would go on an 11-4 run over the final 5 minutes to cut the deficit to 10.
I asked UNC Wilmington Head Coach Takayo Siddle about his message to his group after Campbell made the run to end the half:
"We want to be a team that is handling those situations the right way...We just didn't handle that situation with enough maturity so that was my conversation. Play to win, don't play to play"
McGriff was the dominant Seahawk big man in the first half but that would change in the second half.
In the second half, Campbell scored on its first two possessions and a frustrated Coach Siddle called a timeout just 1 minute into the half. His guys responded after that timeout, scoring on the next two possessions on post touches by Harlan Obioha. Obioha has been a vital part of the Seahawk's success this season due to his combination of size at 7 feet, 280 lbs, and his elite footwork from his background as an offensive lineman. "He's a guy that's been getting better and is always in there working on his game," Coach Siddle said. "He's coachable and a load to deal with...he's gotten better each and every day this season."
The bright spot offensively for the Camels outside of Colby Duggan, who scored 19 points on 5-13 from the field, was Nolan Dorsey. He's vying for the CAA's Defensive Player of the Year award, and while that end of the floor will always be his calling card, he's had to step into a more offensive responsibility with the season-ending injury to Jasin Sinani. Dorsey put up 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists in this game, and had to be a primary creator, which he hasn't been asked to do before.
The final ten minutes were won by the Seahawks 18-15, allowing them to hold firm on an insurmountable lead over the Camels. UNCW would go on to get the road victory 79-60. Obioha led the Seahawks in scoring with 18 points in just 19 minutes of action. He also recorded 8 rebounds.
Following the game, Campbell Head Coach Kevin McGeehan expressed his pleasure with Campbell's play over the last few weeks despite the results:
"Over the last couple of weeks, we've actually played some really good basketball. We've obviously gone through a lot. During that stretch, there has been good basketball. Played a terrific game against Towson and came up short against a really good team but competed our tails off. The comeback at Delaware, you have to have some real fight and toughness to come back in that game. That is who we are too.
The Camels have a chance to end the season on a good note in their final regular season contest at the College of Charleston. The first matchup between the two in Buies Creek was a 67-61 Charleston victory. The Seahawks will host the departing Delaware in the Blue Hens' last regular season game as a member of the CAA due to their rise to Conference USA next season. The first of the two meetings this season was won by UNC Wilmington 77-67.
Both Campbell and UNC Wilmington's final regular season games tip off on Saturday, March 1st. The Camels tip off at Charleston at 6 p.m. and the Seahawks at home at 7 p.m. Both games can be seen on FloCollege. Follow along on X (@TrevorEverette) for live game updates, and for more of my work on House of College Hoops and House Enterprise, head here.
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