WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Hampton University men's basketball team appeared on its way to its first win of the season, but UNC Wilmington came back to take a 61-60 win at Trask Coliseum on Sunday to wrap up the Nations of Coaches Classic.

Junior center David Bruce (Linden, N.J.) led the Pirates with 13 points, while junior Du'Vaughn Maxwell (Manhattan, N.Y..) and freshman guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) each added 11 points.

Redshirt-freshman guard Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) had a team-high 11 rebounds.

Even though UNCW opened the game up 5-0, the Pirates (0-5) fought back to take a 17-10 lead after Bruce hit a jumper at the 9:19 mark of the first half to cap a 17-5 run. From that point, the Seahawks fought back and took a 24-22 lead with 3:52 left in the half.

Maxwell tied the game at 24-24 with a jumper at the 2:36 mark, before a Bruce jumper with 2:09 left in the half gave the Pirates a 26-24 lead.

Hampton led 29-25 at the half, after a 3-pointer at the buzzer from junior guard Ramon Mercado (Hollywood, Fla.).

Senior guard Jasper Williams (Washington, D.C.) hit a 3-pointer with 16:49 left in the second half to give the Pirates a 38-30 lead, before UNCW went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 38-38 with 14:14 left to play after a free throw from Keith Rendleman.

Maxwell hit a jumper to give Hampton a 40-38 lead with 13:15 left to play, before Chris Dixon put the Seahawks up 41-40 with a 3-pointer at the 12:52 mark.

A Bruce jumper with 6:31 left to play put the Pirates up 52-47, and his layup with 6:04 remaining gave Hampton a 54-49 lead. The Seahawks fought back, tying the game at 56-56 after capping a 7-2 run with a pair of Cedrick Williams free throws at the 2:57 mark.

Powers hit two free throws with 2:04 left to put Hampton up 60-57, but Shane Reybold cut the lead to 60-59 with a layup at the 1:37 mark – before Freddie Jackson hit a layup with 1:02 to play to give the Seahawks a 61-60 lead.

The Pirates shot 40.8 percent (20-for-49) from the floor, while hitting four of the 12 3-pointers and 16 of their 23 free throws. Hampton also out-rebounded UNCW 38-36 , while also scoring 20 points off 17 UNCW turnovers.

The Seahawks (3-3) shot 38.3 percent (18-for-47) from the floor. Rendleman led the Seahawks with 23 points and 15 rebounds.

The Pirates will return to action on Wednesday, when they travel to Radford, Va. to take on the Highlanders of Radford University at 7 p.m. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.