WILMINGTON, N.C. – UNC Wilmington dialed long distance behind Daniel Fountain’s 19 first-half points to erase an early 11-point deficit and shot 63.3 percent from field for an 81-68 victory over visiting Towson in a Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball game Wednesday night at Trask Coliseum.

            The Seahawks improved to 10-8 overall and 3-3 in the CAA with their sixth home victory in eight appearances. The Tigers lost their third game in four outings and fell to 6-10 and 2-4.

            Fountain led all scorers in the contest with 23 points, scoring four free throws in the final 45 seconds to go along with his 19 points in the opening period. The Woodbridge, Va., marksman went 7-for-9 from the field and added a perfect 4-for-4 at the charity stripe.

            Senior center Vladimir Kuljanin and freshman point guard Chad Tomko scored 14 points apiece and senior forward Todd Hendley collected 13 points for the Seahawks. Kuljanin added a game-high 14 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season and 14^th of his career.

            Junior forward Junior Hairston paced the Tigers with 17 points, while senior floor general C.C. Williams and junior guard Josh Thornton contributed 16 apiece and junior forward Tony Durant had 13.

            Trailing 46-34 at halftime, Towson chipped away at the deficit and crept within 54-48 on a trey by Hairston along the right wing with 13:25 remaining. UNCW then scored nine of the next 11 points, however, to push the margin back to 63-50 on a stop’n’ pop by the pesky Tomko at 9:24.

            After UNCW stretched the lead to 67-55 on another Tomko jumper at 7:11, the Tigers scored seven consecutive points and Durant’s bank shot from close range brought TU within 67-62 with 4:28 showing. Towson then chopped the lead to 71-66 on a pair of free throws by Williams at 2:25.

            Hendley’s turnaround jumper in the paint increased the margin to 73-66 with 1:55 left and after Durant sank a pair of free throws, Tomko fired in a wide open triple from the left corner and the lead ballooned to 76-68 with one minute left.

            UNCW made 4-for-5 at the foul line in the final 45 seconds for a final score that failed to indicate the closeness of the contest.

            Towson got off to a quick start behind the hot hand of Hairston, who scored seven of his team’s first nine points to give the Tigers an early 9-5 edge. Durant later gave TU its largest lead of the first half, 20-9, when he drained a three-pointer from the right wing for an 11-point cushion at 12:51.

            The Seahawks, who canned all six of their 3-point attempts in the opening period en route to 64.3 percent shooting, answered with 23-6 run to take control. Fountain had three triples in the rally and Hendley’s conventional three-point play with 5:53 remaining staked UNCW to a 32-26 advantage. Towson then reeled with six straight points to tie the game at 32-all before UNCW closed out the half with a 14-2 spurt.

            The Seahawks travel to Atlanta Saturday for a 7:30 p.m.tip-off against Georgia State at the GSU Sports Arena. The Tigers wrap up their two-game CAA road swing with a 2:06 start Saturday at William & Mary.

            Game Notes: UNCW built a 32-18 rebounding advantage...Freshman point guard Chad Tomko had one turnover in 30 minutes...Towson attempted 30 trifectas ...UNCW finished 10-for-13 behind the arc...The Seahawks won the points in the paint battle by a wide 38-18 margin...Towson did not score a bucket in the last 3:09...Senior guard T.J. Carter and freshman point guard Chad Tomko led the team with four assists each.