NEWARK Del. — A buzzer beating layup by Cole Matthews ended a first half that was all Delaware Tech. The second half was the complete opposite for Cecil College.
The Seahawks overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to snag a 85-75 win over Delaware Tech on Tuesday night. The second half highlighted a Seahawks comeback that saw Cecil outscore Tech 54-33 in the final frame. Cecil opened the second half with a 15-4 run to knot the game at 46.
“We weren’t playing well, we weren’t playing hard, aggressive or anything. We were kind of back on our heals,” Cecil College Head Coach Ed Durham said of his team’s first half performance. “The second half focus was we wanted to cut off some of their dribble drives. They took advantage of that in the first half.”
Runs of 7-2 and 6-2 by Delaware Tech extended its lead to 59-53, before a quick 4-0 run by the Seahawks cut Tech’s lead to two, 59-57 and forced a Delaware Tech timeout with 8:46 remaining.
Another 14-10 streak by Delaware Tech pushed its lead to 73-67 before a timeout with just under five minutes to go in the final half. The last 4 minutes and 25 seconds however, were all Seahawks. An 18-2 run by Cecil, including buckets by Dominick Carrington and Jordan Strickland gave the Hawks their first lead since an 18-15 advantage with 12:29 left in the first half.
The Seahawks second half surge was propelled by a full-court press that helped Cecil College force 19 steals by game’s end.
“I think that just changed the complexion [of the game] because we were down eleven and we immediately cut it to two,” Durham said of the defensive change. “I said to them at one of the timeouts, ‘if you take the lead, you’re going to win the game.’”
Cecil’s second victory of the year was highlighted by the play of sophomore reserves Jordan Strickland and Marlon Lewis. Lewis, an alumnus of Havre de Grace High School, dropped 16 points while shooting just under 50% from the field. Strickland ended the night with 11 points and 2 steals.
Dominick Carrington led the Seahawks in scoring with 18 points. Vernon Simmons recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
“For Jordan it’s all about effort, he’s talented, he’s strong,” Durham said. “For Marlon we pretty much know what we’re going to get. His athleticism, defensively he’s good, he rebounds.”
Durham noted the pair were crucial on the boards in the second half. Lewis grabbed 7 rebounds, while Strickland pulled in 3 rebounds.
“They were huge in the second half on the glass,” Durham said of the pair. “We were spectators on the rebounds in the first half.”
The Seahawks (2-3) are victors of their last two games and will host Mercer County and Raritan Valley this weekend for the Cecil Mixer hosted by Cecil College.
“We’re a lot different team than we were last year,” Durham said. “We’re not as deep, we’re certainly not as big, so this team is going to have to fight all the time and they know that’s the expectation.”
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