WILMINGTON, N.C. - Junior center John Fields recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 16 rebounds to power UNC Wilmington over Georgia State, 57-50, in a Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball game Wednesday night at Trask Coliseum.
The Seahawks won their second straight to improve to 6-8 overall and even their CAA slate at 2-2. The Panthers dropped their second in a row to fall to 8-8 and 2-2.
"We did a good job of gutting it out and finding a way to win," said Benny Moss, UNCW's fourth-year coach. "I'm very proud of the way we defended the entire game. We defended the glass especially well in the second half."
Fields posted his fourth double-double of the season on 4-for-9 shooting from the floor to go along with 5-for-9 at the free throw line. Junior playmaker Chad Tomko scored 10 points for his 19th straight game spanning over to last season and his 13th in 2009-10. Senior guard Montez Downey chipped in 10 points.
Senior guard Joe Dukes led the Panthers with 21 points and reserve guard Jihad Ali contributed 11 points - all in the second half - for GSU.
Clinging to a 48-46 lead with just over three minutes remaining, the Seahawks scored five straight points to gain some separation and turned up the defensive pressure on the Panthers to avenge a 22-point whipping to GSU last December in Trask.
Freshman forward Keith Rendleman connected on a short jumper in the lane, added a free throw and Fields dropped in an alley oop with 45 seconds to give the Seahawks a 53-46 edge.
Dukes responded with a layup, however, 10 seconds later and Ali made a steal and layup with 38 seconds remaining to close the gap to 53-50. But Tomko converted on a pair of free throws and following a missed field goal attempt by the Panthers, Dominique Lacy scored on a slam dunk with nine seconds on the clock to close out the win.
UNCW held GSU to 32.3 percent overall and just 1-for-11 from 3-point range. Leading scorer Trae Goldston, the 13th best scorer in the CAA at 13.3 ppg, wound up with only two points on just 1-for-6 shooting.
After carving out a 27-24 edge at halftime, the Seahawks used a 10-2 spurt over the first 3:21 of the final half to jump ahead, 37-26. Tomko sank a pair of free throws with 16:39 on the clock to hike UNCW's lead to 11 points.
However, GSU regrouped behind Ali, who scored eight points over a four minute stretch to help GSU narrow the deficit to 41-37 with 10:34 remaining. UNCW regrouped to push the lead back to 46-39, but Dukes scored a pair of buckets in a 5-0 mini-run to bring the Panthers back to 46-44 at 4:15.
UNCW bounced back from a slow start with tight defense to grab a 27-24 lead at intermission. The Seahawks committed four turnovers in the first four minutes and trailed, 12-3, before holding the Panthers to one basket over the final 7:42 of the first half to build a three-point edge at the break.
Four different players scored as GSU opened the game with an 8-0 run and the Panthers extended the margin to as many as nine points until UNCW settled in to narrow the deficit midway through the period.
Dante Curry gave GSU an 8-0 lead with the second of two free throws at 15:20 and Joe Dukes made a steal and layup to push the margin to 12-3 with 13:34 remaining.
GSU still led, 20-12, on a steal and dunk by Trey Hampton before the Seahawks tightened up defensively and outscored the Panthers, 15-4 over the remaining 7:42 of the opening period. The Panthers wound up connected on a sluggish 29 percent of their first goals in the first half.
Tomko's steal and layup capped a 9-0 run to give the Seahawks their first lead, 25-23, with 2:29 left. After James Vincent sank a free throw for the Panthers to close to 25-24, Johnny Wolf scored in traffic to give the Seahawks a 27-24 edge at halftime.
The Seahawks return to action on Saturday with a road trip to George Mason for a 4 p.m. televised game at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. The Panthers are at the GSU Sports Arena on Saturday for a Noon clash against Northeastern.
GAME NOTES: GSU came up with 15 steals in the contest...UNCW hit just 40.0 percent from the field...The 16 rebounds by Fields tied Keith Rendleman for the most this season by a Seahawk...UNCW had three players with seven or more boards...Four Seahawks had at least three turnovers...Fields blocked three shots to raise his season total to 38 swats...Only eight players scored for UNCW...GSU's Ousman Krubally fouled out with 7:24 remaining in the second half...The two teams play again in two weeks at the GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta.
