Seahawks Extend Win Streak to Five with Win over York (Pa)
St. Mary's City, Md. - Every starter for the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team notched twin figures as the Seahawks broke a 38-38 halftime draw and recorded an 88-79 Capital Athletic Conference triumph over York (Pa.) College for their fifth straight victory Saturday afternoon.
En route to the win, senior forward Calvin Wise (Bel Air, Md./Calvert Hall) reached the 1,000-point plateau with his fourth field goal of the contest. Wise's career total now stands at 1,008 as he finished the afternoon with a team-best 17 points.
The win was also the 14th consecutive home victory for the Seahawks. St. Mary's (18-4, 11-2 CAC) has not lost at home in over a calendar year since a 72-70 loss to Marymount (Va.) University back on January 30, 2008.
Senior center Alex Irmer (Alexandria, Va./Wakefield) fired up the home crowd with his lay-up just 10 seconds into it, sparking a 12-0 Seahawk run. The run was capped by freshman guard Matt Moley (York, Pa./West York) who sank a pair of free throws at 16:06 for York's first points of the game.
St. Mary's continued to press on, building its lead to 17 (28-11) following a tip-in by Wise at 11:42. The Spartans (7-15, 5-8 CAC) reined in the Seahawks with a 16-2 run as junior guard Nick Brady (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) put his squad within 30-27 at 5:15, while a jumper by junior forward Jeremy Keefer (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra) at 1:27 gave the visitors their first lead of the contest, setting the stage for a 38-38 halftime score.
Brady led all scorers with 14 points at intermission on 4-of-6 shooting, while Wise paced the home team with 10. Both teams were red-hot as St. Mary's shot 55.9 percent for the contest by connecting on 33 of their 59 attempts from the field, just edging the Spartans' 55.4 percent from the field on 31-of-56.
Freshman guard Julian Watson (Odenton, Md./Arundel) helped YCP stay ahead of the Seahawks, 46-45, with his jumper at 16:44 but a 13-2 run was all St. Mary's needed to regain control of the game and cruise to victory.
Irmer also tallied 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting for the Seahawks, while grabbing a game-high eight boards. Junior guard Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) picked up 15, while sophomore guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) registered a double-double on 14 points and a career-high 13 assists. Sophomore forward Mike Fitzpatrick (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) scored a dozen.
York was led by Watson's 18 points, while Brady notched 16 and hauled in a team-best five boards.
The Seahawks will return to action next Wednesday, February 11, traveling to Fredericksburg, Virginia to face the University of Mary Washington in league action. The contest is scheduled to begin at 8:00 following the women's game which begins at 6:00.
