WILMINGTON, N.C. – UNC Wilmington’s backcourt tandem of Daniel Fountain and Montez Downey combined for 49 points to power the Seahawks over NCAA Division II Francis Marion University 94-57, as the Gary Edwards era in men’s basketball at FMU kicked off Wednesday night (Nov. 1) at Trask Coliseum.
The win was the 15th consecutive exhibition victory for the Seahawks, who have won 31 of their last 32 preseason tuneups.
Fountain, a junior from Woodbridge, Va., scored 25 points and Downey, a freshman from Oxford, N.C., added 24 markers to lead four players in double figures for the Seahawks. Junior center Vladimir Kuljanin chipped in 13 and senior playmaker Temi Soyebo contributed 10 points as every player on the Seahawk bench scored.
Senior 6-6 forward Raymond Dorsey paced the Patriots with 13 points and senior point guard Dominic Bishop collected 10 points for FMU out of the Peach Belt Conference.
After jumping out to a 38-27 lead at halftime, the Seahawks blew the game open after the break behind Downey, who scored 21 of his 24 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the second half.
A 3-pointer by Paul Braxton pulled FMU to within 52-41 with 12:55 remaining, but the Seahawks reeled off 10 unanswered points to kickstart a 19-2 run that put the game on ice. Downey had eight points in the rally, which was capped by Dejan Grkovic’s dunk with 8:01 left that gave UNCW a 71-43 cushion.
The Seahawks enjoyed their biggest lead of the game, 94-55, with 1:21 showing when freshman walk-on Darion Jeralds tipped in a miss by Darryl Felder in front of the basket.
UNCW, which made just 27.6 percent of its shots in the opening period, bounced back in the final period with a 58.8 percent aim. FMU wound up hitting 38.2 percent and committing 23 turnovers in the loss before 4,703 fans. The Patriots also connected on only 9 of 22 free throws.
The Seahawks, defending champions in the Colonial Athletic Association, play their final tuneup of the new season on Tuesday, Nov. 7, when UNC Pembroke visits the Port City for another 7 p.m. contest. The Patriots wrap up their preseason slate with a match up at Furman University on Saturday at 7 p.m.
