WILMINGTON, N.C. - Junior guard Kevin Anderson scored all of his game-high 24 points in the second half to help Richmond erase a 10-point deficit over the final six minutes for a 66-64 non-conference men’s basketball victory over UNC Wilmington Monday night at the Robins Center.

Richmond won its third straight contest and improved to 10-3 on the season with its seventh home victory without a loss. UNCW dropped its third game in four outings and fell to 4-7.

“We got ourselves in a position to win the game,” said Benny Moss, UNCW’s fourth-year coach. “Now we have to do the little things to get over the hump and turn the close calls into wins. I’m proud because our guys competed and played hard.”

Anderson, a preseason First-Team All-Atlantic 10 selection, missed all four of his field goal attempts in the first half before finishing 6-for-14 and 10-for-11 at the free throw line. Senior guard David Gonzalvez was the only other player in double figures for the Spiders with 12 points.

Junior point guard Chad Tomko and junior reserve Jeremy Basnight had 12 points apiece for the Seahawks, who bounced back from shooting 21.4 percent in the first half to drain 55.2 percent after the break.

Richmond forced 13 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, limiting the Seahawks to one basket over the final 12:34 of the first half, and led by as many as eight points in the second period before surviving a furious rally by the visitors.

Johnny Wolf’s reverse layup with 5:56 left in the contest put the Seahawks in control, 54-44, until Richmond used full-court pressure to force costly turnovers by UNCW in a 10-0 run to retake the lead.

Trailing 59-51 with just over three minutes remaining, UR rallied behind Anderson and Gonzalvez, who combined for eight points in the spurt. Gonzalvez’s steal, layup and free throw with 1:45 left put UR in front, 61-59.

Tomko tied the game at 63-all with 43 seconds showing on a pair of free throws before Anderson answered with two free throws with 30 ticks left and Gonzalvez added a free throw with 7.7 seconds on the clock to give UR a 66-63 edge.

The Seahawks were never able to launch a game-tying shot as Tomko was fouled on the next possession and made the first of two free throws. UR grabbed an intentional miss on the second attempt and ran out the clock.

The Seahawks, playing for the first time in 12 days and the first time since Jan. 21, 2001, at the Robins Center, got off to quick start by scoring eight of the first 10 points in the contest. A putback by Will Ohuaregbe with 15:28 left in the first half gave UNCW an 8-2 lead and Ahmad Grant’s triple from the right corner at 12:34 kept the lead at 11-6.

The two teams struggled offensively in the middle of the opening period until UR began making its move with a Darrius Garrett dunk and a Dan Geriot layup to cut the deficit to 11-10 at 8:24. The Spiders then picked up their first lead of the game with 3:02 left when Kevin Smith found Garrett all alone under the bucket for a layup and a 14-13 edge.

Josh Duinker converted both ends of a bonus situation to give UR a 16-13 advantage at 1:53 and a monster dunk by Garrett with 49 seconds left delivered an 18-13 advantage for the Spiders at halftime.

The Seahawks head back to Richmond on Saturday to take on Colonial Athletic Association rival VCU at 7:30 p.m. before completing a two-game swing at William & Mary on Monday. The Spiders visit Wake Forest on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

GAME NOTES: The Seahawks now stand 5-15 at the Robins Center in 20 appearances…Senior guard Josh Sheets did not dress after being sidelined with a severe sprain of his left toe…UNCW built a commanding 48-28 advantage on the boards against the Spiders…The Seahawks grabbed 20 offensive rebounds…The Seahawks held the Spiders to just 3-for-18 from 3-point range…UNCW had one more field goal attempt and 14 less free throws than the Spiders…UNCW had 13 assists on 22 baskets…Junior center John Fields, the team’s second leading scorer and top rebounder, wound up with seven points, 13 rebounds and two blocks…Richmond scored 24 points off turnovers and outscored the Seahawks in the paint, 32-26.

-Courtesy UNCW