Eagles pick up 10th win of the season at Cape Fear

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Wake Tech men's basketball picked up their third-straight win on Wednesday night, defeating Cape Fear 77-72 to improve to 10-6 on the year and 2-0 in conference play. 

Cape Fear took a 39-31 lead into the break after knocking down seven three-pointers in the first half. 

"That's a well-coached team, and I give credit to them for the way they shot the ball in the first half," head coach Adam Wainwright said. "We needed to clean up our turnovers and make some adjustments, which we did at halftime. And our shots weren't falling tonight, especially early on, so we had to get creative, attack the basket and force the issue."

The Eagles were led in scoring by sophomore forward Saiquone Harris, who finished the game with 22 points. Harris shot 9-for-18 from the field, with five of his nine misses coming from beyond the arc. 

Freshman Jaiden Shephard recorded his third double double of the season, finishing with 10 points and a team-high 14 rebounds. 

Andrew Navarro fell short of scoring in double figures for the first time since November 8, but he was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. With 23 seconds remaining in the game, and Wake Tech trying to hold on to a 73-72 lead, Navarro was fouled and sent to the line. Navarro is the last player the Sea Devils would want to send to the line, he's shooting 92.2% this season, which is third-best in Region 10, and top 10 nationally. He converted both free throw attempts to grow the lead to 75-72. Wake Tech rebounded a missed Cape Fear free throw with just seconds remaining and Navarro was perfect from the line again, and the game ended 77-72 in favor of the Eagles. 

"I'm just proud of our guys for going into a tough environment, facing some adversity, but battling through it to get the win," Wainwright said. "There's still a lot to work on heading into Saturday though."

Next up for the Eagles is a showdown with Caldwell Tech (14-2, 1-0), who travels to Raleigh on Saturday. Wake Tech bested the Cobras three times last season, including a 75-53 win in the quarterfinals of the Region 10 tournament. Caldwell is off to an impressive start this season, however, and picked up their first conference victory on Wednesday against USC Salkehatchie, winning 116-95. 

Tip off is scheduled for 3:00 PM, and the game will be streamed live on the Wake Tech Eagles YouTube channel. Admission is $10, but free for Wake Tech students, faculty, and staff (with presentation of their Wake Tech ID), and also free for anyone 18 and under.