TOWSON, Maryland – UNC Wilmington (6-4, 0-1 Colonial Athletic Association) came up on the short end of a 72-69 final against Towson (2-5, 1-1 CAA) Monday afternoon inside SECU Arena. The game served as the first conference matchup for the Seahawks this season due to recent positive COVID-19 virus tests within the program.

Jaylen Sims led the way for the Hawks in the scoring column with 19 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Mike Okauru and Jake Boggs served as UNCW’s other double-digit scorers, chipping in 18 and 14 respectively.

UNCW struggled protecting the interior throughout the game. Towson outscored the Hawks 44-26 inside the paint while finishing the game +11 in the rebounding column. The Tigers shot 1-14 from behind the arc but were able to rely heavily on their size to win the battles underneath the basket.

Foul trouble pestered the Seahawks and exposed their lack of depth coming off the bench. Ty Gadsden fouled out of the game, while Okauru and Boggs each finished with four.

UNCW could have used a better outing from Joe Pridgen who finished the contest with only two points after shooting 1-7 from the field in 28 minutes of game time.

As a team, the Seahawks shot 35% from the field and just over 31% from three. However, going 23 for 28 from the charity stripe will keep almost any team in a game and so was the case for UNCW who never trailed by more than eight points.

Small adjustments should do the trick for Takayo Siddle and the Seahawks who will return to action tomorrow at 1 p.m. to cap off the two-game series with the Tigers.