TOWSON, Md. - Senior guard Chad Tomko scored 11 of his team high 31 points in the final 1:23 of overtime as UNC Wilmington (12-14, 6-9) overcame a 22-point second half deficit to pull out a dramatic 95-93 overtime Colonial Athletic Association victory over the Tigers (4-21, 0-15) at the Towson Center on Saturday afternoon.

Tomko's heroics overshadowed the performance of Tiger sophomore Isaiah Philmore, who scored a career high 33 points for the Tigers.

Tomko, who finished the game with 31 points, six assists and three steals, shot 11-for-18 from the floor and connected on five on ten three-point attempts. He also grabbed five rebounds and made four of five free throw attempts.

He also served as the catalyst for a remarkable comeback as UNCW outscored Towson by a 34-14 margin over the final 12 minutes of regulation.

After graduate student Brian Morris (left) gave the Tigers an 87-84 lead by nailing a three-pointer with 1:38 left in overtime, Tomko took over. His driving layup with 1:23 left cut the deficit to 87-86. Moments later, he stole the ball in the backcourt and hit a layup with 1:17 remaining for an 88-87 advantage.

After the Tigers failed to score on their next possession, Tomko nailed a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down to give the Seahawks a 91-87 lead, their biggest advantage of the game. After another miss by the Tigers, he was fouled and made two free throws for a 93-87 advantage with 23 seconds left.

Morris, who scored 12 points in the overtime period, nailed a three-pointer with ten seconds left to pull the Tigers with 93-90. But Tomko was fouled immediately and canned two more foul shots to put UNCW ahead by 95-90.

With 6.8 seconds left, Morris made one of two free throws to pull Towson to within 95-91. But the Seahawks were called for a five-second violation and the Tigers were still alive. When Philmore scored on a slam dunk with 1.2 seconds left, the Tigers had a 95-93 deficit. They couldn't get any closer.

"When your team doesn't really have the experience and know-how to win, these things can happen," said Towson Coach Pat Kennedy. "During the first timeout of the second half, I told the guys that if we give them any momentum, they will start to believe they can play with us. Up until that time, they didn't believe they could play with us.

"We had a 22-point lead and we had control of the tempo," he added. "A 20-point lead might seem like a lot in college basketball, but it's just two or three runs. That's what they did to put themselves back in position to win the game."

The Seahawks, who made all five field goal attempts in the overtime period, used 64.0 per cent shooting in the second half to erase their 21-point deficit. The Tigers, who owned 42-27 lead at halftime, extended the lead to 58-36 with 14:02 left in the game.

When senior guard Josh Brown nailed a three-pointer with 12:02 remaining, the Tigers owned a 64-44 lead.

But the Seahawks used a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to 64-56 with 9:06 to play. UNC Wilmington kept chipping away at the lead and finally took a lead on a rebound layup by sophomore Matt Wilson off his own miss with 1:11 remaining. That gave UNCW a 77-76 advantage. It was their first lead since the score was 7-6.

Philmore, who scored a career high 33 points, gave the Tigers a 78-77 lead when he connected on a ten-foot fallaway jumper with 37 seconds to play.

Moments later, a steal by Morris gave the Tigers the ball with the lead. But a turnover by Rashawn Paul provided UNCW with new life. With 12.6 seconds left in regulation, senior guard Ahmad Grant was fouled. He made the first of two free throws to tie the game at 78-78. It was the first tie of the game.

When Philmore missed an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer, the game went into overtime where UNCW outscored the Tigers, 17-15.

Playing their best half of the season, the Tigers rolled to a 33-14 lead with 5:38 left in the opening half. Led by Philmore, who scored 15 first half points, the Tigers shot 54.5 per cent from the floor on their way to a 42-27 lead.

Philmore led all scorers with a career high 33 points. He shot 12-for-19 from the floor and 9-for-12 from the free throw line. Philmore also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked two shots.

Philmore became the first Tiger basketball to score 30 points in a game since Gary Neal tallied 30 points at Old Dominion on February 21, 2007. Neal is now playing for the San Antonio Spurs.

Morris also scored a career high with 21 points against the Seahawks. He was 6-for-10 from the floor and made four of seven three-pointers. Brown added 15 points.

While Tomko led UNCW with 31 points, Grant added 24 points. Wilson, a 6-11 center, came off the bench to score a career best 19 points. He shot 8-for-11 from the floor.

The loss was the Tigers' 14^th consecutive defeat as they fell to 0-15 in the CAA. It was another close loss for Towson, which has lost its last four games by a total of 15 points.

The Tigers return to action on Tuesday night when they host James Madison University at 7:00 p.m.