Northwestern Falls To UNC Wilmington in BCA Championship Game

Tuesday, November 15

Laramie, Wyo.

9:00 PM

Northwestern

UNC Wilmington (BCA Invitational)

Mohamed Hachad chipped in with 10 points against UNC Wilmington.

Northwestern Falls To UNC Wilmington in BCA Championship Game

11/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Nov. 16, 2005

Box Score

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LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - Todd Hendley scored 11 points to lead North Carolina-Wilmington to a 56-48 lead over Northwestern to win the Black Coaches Association Invitational on Tuesday.

Mitch Laue added 10 points and Temi Soyebo had 9 rebounds for the Seahawks (3-0).

In the second half, North Carolina-Wilmington led by as much as 41-29 on a 3-pointer by Soyebo, but that lead shrank to 41-37 on a basket by Mohamed Hachad and 6-of-6 free throws by Northwestern.

The Seahawks, however, were able to widen their lead to 52-41 on seven unanswered points.

Vedran Vukusic drained two 3-pointers and Michael Jenkins had a free throw for the Wildcats in the final minute and a half, but North Carolina-Wilmington made 4-of-7 free throws to preserve its lead and claim the tournament title.

Vukusic led Northwestern (2-1) with 23 points. Hachad added 10 points and Tim Doyle had seven rebounds for the Wildcats.

The Seahawks shot 43 percent to Northwestern's 41 percent.

North Carolina-Wilmington led 23-17 at the half. The Seahawks led from the opening minutes and outshot the Wildcats 35 percent to 30 percent in the first half.

Northwestern opens up at home this Monday, Nov. 21 against Florida Atlantic. Game time is 7 p.m.

Postgame Notes:

The meeting was the first between Northwestern and UNC Wilmington.

Vedran Vukusic finished with 23 points, the third-consecutive game he has reached the 20-point plateau.

Vukusic's 23 points gives him 1,124 for his career, moving him into 18th place on Northwestern's all-time scoring list, passing Mark Sibley (1,113), Tavaras Hardy (1,122) and Hal Grant (1,123).

Vukusic scored 76 points (25.3 ppg) in the three BCA Invitational games, earning him all-tournament honors. In the three games, Vukusic was 25-of-45 (.555) from the field, 12-of-22 from three-point range (.545) and 14-of-18 (.777) from the free throw line.

Despite foul trouble, Mohamed Hachad still hit double-figures in scoring for the second-straight game with 10 points and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

Tim Doyle finished with six points, five assists and a team-high seven rebounds. Doyle recorded 17 assists in the three BCA games for an average of 5.6 per game.

UNC Wilmington outscored Northwestern 17-10 in points off turnovers and 8-1 on second chance points.

Northwestern shot 40.5 percent (15-of-37) from the field and 25 percent (4-of-16) from three-point range.

Attendance: 5,056

The game was played with three NCAA experimental rules: 1. With the three-point line moved one foot behind the current mark to 20-feet, 9 inches. 2. With the free throw line widened one foot on each side. 3. With a restricted arc placed three feet from the center of the basket ring.