DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Mike Okauru scored 11 of his 28 points in the two overtime periods, Jaylen Sims also finished with 28 points and UNC Wilmington beat Middle Tennessee 96-90 on Wednesday night in the College Basketball Invitational championship game.
Jaylen Fornes added 19 points for the Seahawks (27-9).
“What a way to go out…that was a great way to end the season,” UNCW coach Takayo Siddle said following the game. “What an unbelievable game that was. It was wild open and up for grabs in the first half. I told the guys that we needed to clean some things up. Whoever wanted it the most was going to take it and win the game.
“It was back and forth through the second half and we made our run. If you look at the game, that’s our season right there. Our guys are so resilient. They fought so hard and never gave up. They always believed that we were going to win the game.”
Okauru was 10 of 12 from the line and Sims 14 of 15 as the teams combined for 56 fouls and 89 free-throw attempts.
Donovan Sims scored a season-high 27 points and had eight rebounds for the Blue Raiders (26-11). DeAndre Dishman added 17 points and Teafale Lenard Jr had 11 points.
Sims sank a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left in the first overtime to tie it at 81.
Wake Forest knocked out of NIT
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Wade Taylor IV and Quenton Jackson had 12 points apiece as Texas A&M defeated Wake Forest 67-52 in the NIT quarterfinals on Wednesday night. Tyrece Radford added 10 points and eight rebounds for Texas A&M (26-12).
Isaiah Mucius had 15 points for the Demon Deacons (25-10). Dallas Walton added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Wake Forest totaled 15 points in the first half, a season low for the team.
