CHARLESTON, S.C. — Chad Tomko scored 21 points and North Carolina-Wilmington held Penn State to 32.3 percent shooting to knock off the Nittany Lions 80-69 on Thursday.
“Our kids played well,” Seahawks coach Benny Moss said. “We played with great effort, and we executed. We handled Penn State’s runs in the second half. When they made a run at us, I thought we kept our composure, got the shots we were looking for and just kept defending.”
UNC-Wilmington (2-1) shot 57.4 percent from the field (27-for-47) and made 10 of 16 3-point shots in the first round of the Charleston Classic.
“Once you hit your first couple, you get confidence,” said Tomko, who made six 3-pointers in nine attempts. “I had confidence in my shot (Thursday night).”
Penn State (2-1) got 29 points from Talor Battle, who made 11 of 12 free throws. The Nittany Lions were 22-for-27 from the foul line for the game, but 21-for-65 from the field.
UNC-Wilmington led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but Penn State cut the lead to two with 2:28 to play.
However, the Seahawks didn’t wilt under the Nittany Lions’ pressure defense. They drew fouls and put the game away at the free-throw line.
UNC-Wilmington made 15 of 18 free throws in the second half, all coming in the last 8:04.
“We just kept our composure and played hard,” Tomko said, “and our big men came up big (Thursday night).”
The Seahawks led 40-31 at halftime after shooting 61.5 percent from the field, including 7-for-11 from 3-point range.
Six players had at least one 3-pointer for UNC-Wilmington and eight players scored in the first half.
Penn State, meanwhile, struggled, shooting 35.5 percent from the field in the first half, including 2-for-10 from 3-point range.
The Nittany Lions made up for it a bit by going 7-for-9 from the free throw line compared to
1-for-3 for the Seahawks.
Will Ohuaregbe was the only other UNC-Wilmington player in double figures with 12 points.
