CHARLESTON, S.C. - Miami shook off pesky UNC Wilmington with a decisive 16-4 run midway through the second half to down the Seahawks, 67-60, in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic Friday at Carolina First Arena.

      The Hurricanes improved to 4-0 with the victory after defeating Tulane in Thursday's quarterfinals. The Seahawks dipped to 1-3 on the new season and will face either South Carolina or South Florida in a consolation game Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

      Miami reserve point guard Malcolm Grant came off the bench to lead all scorers with 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting. The Hurricanes, who shot an even 50 percent, also got 17 points from James Dews.

      UNCW, which managed just 38.2 percent shooting on 21-for-55 from the floor, was sparked by Chad Tomko's 16 points. Junior center John Fields chipped in 15 points and two blocks for the Seahawks.

      "We went up against a very good team tonight," said Benny Moss, UNCW's fourth-year coach. "Our effort was unbelievable. They knocked us on our heels a little at the end of the first half and we battled back."

      Miami solved UNCW's fast-paced offense with some pressure defense late in the first half to grab a narrow halftime lead and then used a quick start in the second period to advance to Sunday's championship game against the winner of the South Carolina-South Florida matchup.

      After forging out to a 37-30 lead on Reggie Johnson's layup with 16:14 left in the contest, Miami watched the pesky Seahawks score six straight points to slice the deficit to one and then tie the game at 39-all on Tomko's long triple in front of the UNCW bench at 11:38.

      Miami then went on its 16-4 run that broke the game open. Dwayne Collins kick started the rally with a free throw and a runner on the right baseline by Dews capped the spurt and staked Miami to its largest lead of the game, 55-43, with 5:51 left to play.

      The spunky Seahawks chipped away to narrow the deficit to 62-58 with 43 seconds showing, but UofM scored five of the last seven points to move into the finals.

      UNCW led by as many 14 points in the first half before Miami put together a furious rally over the last six minutes of the opening period to take a 27-26 edge at the break. The Hurricanes struggled from the floor early, missing seven of their first 10 shots, but found their shooting touch and wound up hitting 50 percent from the floor.

      The Seahawks used runs of 8-0 and 10-0 to build a 22-8 cushion with 6:09 left in the first half. Darryl Felder's triple from the left corner gave the Seahawks an 18-6 lead at 9:24 and when Dominique Lacy converted both ends of a bonus situation with 6:09 showing, UNCW enjoyed a 22-8 advantage.

      But Miami, behind Grant, went on a tear. The Hurricanes scored eight unanswered points and then closed out the period with a 10-0 run when Cyrus McGowan made a layup with two seconds remaining.

      GAME NOTES: The Hurricanes avenged a home loss to the Seahawks during the 1992-93 season...The two teams combined for just 9-for-31 from 3-point range...Newcomers scored 23 of UNCW's 60 points...Miami won the rebounding battle by a 36-33 margin...The two teams had 39 turnovers...Four different players had four rebounds for the Seahawks...Nine different players scored for UNCW...The Hurricanes went just 12-for-24 at the free throw line...Cyrus McGowan had five blocks for UofM.