UNCW Completes Comeback to Advance in 2026 National Invitation Tournament
Dylan Smith
RICHMOND, Va. – For the sixth time this season, UNCW (27-6) utilized a second-half surge to erase a double-digit deficit and captured a 68-67 win over No. 3 seed Yale (24-7) in the opening round of the 2026 National Invitation Tournament inside John J. Lee Amphitheater on Tuesday.
The Seahawks will face the winner of Dayton and Bradley this weekend. Date, tip-off time and location will be announced later tonight.
Trailing by as many as 14 in the second half, Madison Durr and Nolan Hodge orchestrated the charge to help UNCW take its first lead of the game. Durr brought the Seahawks to within one on a pair of 3-pointers before Hodge capped off a 12-3 run with two of his own from distance, going up 58-54 with 5:34 to play. Patrick Wessler countered the Bulldogs’ ensuing 8-0 run with an acrobatic layup off the glass and another finish through traffic to tie the game at 62 with 3:10 left in regulation.
The Seahawks’ Christian May scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the second half, including a pair of trifectas in the final 2:11 of regulation. The senior sharpshooter connected on the game-winning 3-pointer with 34 seconds left to put UNCW ahead for good. Yale had a plethora of chances in the final minute but saw Ivy League Player of the Year Nick Townsend miss four crucial free throws before the Seahawks’ defense forced a pair of late misses to secure the one-point win.
Durr and Hodge each produced 13-point efforts in the CAA’s first NIT victory since 2023. Seahawks’ big man Patrick Wessler notched 10 points, nine boards and four assists in the win. Yale’s Isaac Celiscar led all scorers with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
Yale found itself ahead 9-0 out of the gate before a Greedy Williams trey halted the run. UNCW chipped away and pulled to within five, 22-17, at the 6:27 mark following back-to-back slams from Wessler. The Seahawks began to surge out of the under-four media timeout as May connected on a pair of triples to make it a four-point game with 2:06 to play.
The Bulldogs took a 32-26 lead into the break and expanded it to as many as 14, less than four minutes into the second half. UNCW countered with a 10-2 run, seeing Durr sink a 3-pointer and a turnaround jumper in the paint to close out the scoring spree to slash the deficit down to six, 42-36, with under 13 minutes to play. The Atlanta, Ga., native continued to find his range as Durr made it a one-point game, 47-46, with a corner trey at 10:41.
After Hodge helped take a four-point advantage, Wessler halted a late Bulldogs’ scoring run with a pair of tough finishes in close before eventually finding an open May at the top of the key for an open triple to reclaim a 65-64 edge at 2:11. Yale’s Trevor Mullin responded with a 3-pointer of his own to retake the lead with under a minute to play, only for May to hit the eventual game-winner with 34 seconds remaining.
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