The Wilmington Sea Dawgs are a professional basketball team and founding member of the Tobacco Road Basketball League . The team is based in Wilmington, North Carolina , and began play in 2006 as a member of the American Basketball Association . The team later played as a founding member of the Premier Basketball League and a founding member of the Continental Basketball League . In 2013, the team played at Blizzard Athletics, having previously played at the Joe and Barbara Schwartz Center on the campus of Cape Fear Community College .
11-472: The Sea Dawgs won the ABA Blue Central division in their first year with a record of 19-8 and advanced to the playoff semi-finals, losing to the eventual champion Vermont Frost Heaves . In their playoff run, they were scheduled to meet the defending champion Rochester Razorsharks , but weather-related travel problems caused the game to not be played. The ABA CEO then refused to reschedule the game although
22-638: A 5-game win streak with wins over Montreal, Buffalo, Quebec City, and Cape Cod(2). An overtime loss at Strong Island was followed by a seven-game win streak ended by Quebec City in Barre, the team's first-ever home loss. Attendance was between 900 and 1,650 for the games. The team ended the regular season 30–6. On March 29, 2007, the Frost Heaves won the ABA Championship, defeating the Texas Tycoons 143–95. In
33-658: A professional basketball team in Vermont , United States, that last played in the Premier Basketball League , last coached by Joe Salerno . The formation of the team was announced in December 2005 by founding owner Alexander Wolff , a Cornwall, Vermont , resident and writer for Sports Illustrated . The Heaves were originally part of the American Basketball Association from 2006 through 2008. They were
44-791: A rather mediocre campaign where the club finished 5-6 and missed the playoffs. The team announced (with the Cary Invasion) the formation of the Tobacco Road Basketball League and their membership therein. The TRBL added divisional play, moving the Sea Dawgs to the East Division. The Sea Dawgs also changed their home venue to Blizzard Athletics. Dale Kuhl was replaced as coach by Louis Defeliceantonio. Long time player Joseph King also assumed assistant coaching duties. Vermont Frost Heaves The Vermont Frost Heaves were
55-584: Is a process in professional sports for assigning players to a new team when their existing team folds or is merged with another team. Like most other sports drafts , most dispersal drafts are conducted in closed leagues and are intended to prevent bidding wars and to maintain a league's competitive balance when absorbing a folded or merged team's roaster into the rest of a league as generally they would all turn into free agents following their team's destablishment. Dispersal drafts are more commonly seen in emerging sports (such as soccer or women's basketball in
66-642: The Rochester Razorsharks . They made the playoffs and faced the Maryland Nighthawks in the first round but lost. On April 22, 2008, Kevin Whitted resigned as head coach of the Sea Dawgs On October 17, Dale Kuhl was named head coach. The team took a much more defensive approach compared to previous years and after a slow start sprinted to second place in their division and a wild card berth in
77-406: The 2010 off-season, a group of local fans bought the team, which had been on the verge of collapse, and established a non-profit fan-owned corporation named GO Heaves, Inc. to operate the team. However, on January 26, 2011 (in the midst of the season), GO Heaves announced the team was ceasing operations. Their players were subject to a dispersal draft . Dispersal draft A dispersal draft
88-706: The ABA Champions in the 2006–07 and the 2007–2008 seasons, under head coach Will Voigt. The team is named for the frost heaving soil displacement known to affect colder climates. The Heaves were formed in 2005, and started playing in the fall of 2006 at the Auditorium in Barre , Vermont, and the Memorial Auditorium in Burlington, Vermont . The Heaves started off with a 108–100 overtime loss at Quebec City before going on
99-679: The PBL playoffs with a record of 15-5. The Sea Dawgs were the first team this season to defeat the Battle Creek Knights (who finished 18-2 and were 12-0 at the time of their second meeting). The Sea Dawgs swept four games against the Detroit Panthers and five games against the Augusta Groove . The Sea Dawgs ended their season losing in the playoff semi-finals to the Knights. On 2 November 2009,
110-584: The Sea Dawgs announced via e-mail their move to the spring season Continental Basketball League . The team finished with an 11-5 record and was the number one seed for (and thereby host for) the CBL Championship, which they lost in overtime to the Savannah Wildcats . One of the team's previous co-owners left the team to found the Cary Invasion . The Sea Dawgs's four year playoff streak was snapped in
121-572: The two teams had agreed to a make up date. The CEO instead tried to force Rochester to accept a forfeit. This incident motivated the Razorsharks to leave the ABA and help form the Premier Basketball League (PBL). The team moved to the PBL for the 2007–08 season. They played in the East Division. They finished the regular season at 11-9 and tied for second in the division with the Reading Railers behind
SECTION 10
#1732854842500#499500