St. Mary’s Escapes Marymount (Va) with OT Triumph
Camontae Griffin
Arlington, Va. - Saturday afternoon's Capital Athletic Conference clash in Arlington, Virginia came down to overtime as the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team needed an extra five minutes to notch a 77-71 victory over Marymount (Va.) University in order to complete the series sweep.
It seemed like St. Mary's (15-4, 8-2 CAC) had the game in control as the Seahawks boasted a 62-47 advantage with 4:30 remaining in regulation but Marymount quickly closed the gap with a 16-1 run, including sophomore guard Chapmen Canady's (Lorton, Va./Hayfield) game-tying free throw with 1.1 on the clock. Canady had an opportunity to give his Saints a one-point upset win but his second free throw rimmed out.
The Seahawks overran Marymount (8-10, 4-6 CAC) in overtime by a 14-8 margin, erasing a two-point Saint lead at 2:40 with a 10-2 run behind six points from junior guard Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar). All three of Marymount's three-point attempts in the final 13 seconds were off the mark, securing the SMCM victory.
Griffin, who set his season-high of 31 points against Marymount back on December 6, nearly matched the feat this afternoon as he poured in a game-high 30 on 11-of-19 shooting, including 3-of-6 from downtown. Joining Griffin in double figures were sophomores Mike Fitzpatrick (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) and Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) as both tallied 12 points each. Fitzpatrick also grabbed a game- and team-high eight boards.
St. Mary's dominated the game early on, racing out to a 14-point advantage three times with the latest time at 29-15 with 8:20 left in the first half. The Saints went inside to trim the deficit to two (31-29) with 1:11 left in the first half as Marymount notched 10 points in the paint. However, back-to-back baskets by Griffin and Franz gave the Seahawks a 35-29 lead at intermission. Griffin led all players with 13 first-half points, while freshman guard Tarek Ammoury (McLean, Va./McLean) paced the Saints with nine off the bench.
The Seahawks shot an outstanding 71.4% from the floor in overtime to seal the win and take sole possession of second in the conference standings behind Wesley College which remains undefeated in league play with a 9-0 mark.
Ammoury finished as the Saints' leading scorer with 22, while hauling in seven caroms. Junior forward Elvis Ellis (Rockville, Md./Magruder) added 15 and a game-high eight rebounds, while sophomore Sam Sentz (Gaithersburg, Md./Bullis) contributed 12 points, seven boards, and three blocks.
St. Mary's will return to action this coming Monday, February 2 when the Seahawks travel the distance to Salisbury, Maryland to take on Salisbury University in a CAC tilt at 8:00. In their previous meeting this season, St. Mary's picked up a 63-52 win over SU on January 7 behind 20 points from Franz.
