No. 20 St. Mary’s (Md) Knocks Off Alfred, 90-76
Rochester, N.Y. - No. 20 St. Mary's College of Maryland returned to its winning ways on Tuesday afternoon as the Seahawks (8-2) halted their two-game losing skid with a 90-76 non-conference victory over Alfred University in their second and final game at the St. John Fisher College Classic.
St. Mary's finished with four of its starters in double figures as sophomore forward Mike Bowden (Columbia, Md./Long Reach) led the way with season-highs of 17 points and nine rebounds.
It was a high-scoring first half as the two teams combined for 97 points with the Seahawks holding a 52-45 halftime advantage behind 13 points from junior guard Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) and 11 from Bowden.
Neither team could miss in the first 20 minutes as St. Mary's fired off shots at a .600 clip, while Alfred made 63% of its attempts, including going 9-of-15 from downtown as junior forward Jared Patt (Nelson, Pa./Elkland Area) connected on eight of those nine three-pointers.
There were eight lead changes in the game's first six minutes including the Saxon's largest lead of the game (15-8) at 15:24 following a three-pointer by Patt. St. Mary's finally took control of the contest with a 20-10 run to boast a 36-27 margin with 7:27 left in the first half.
Leading the Alfred offense in the first half was Patt with a game-high 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including an impressive 8-of-9 from behind the three-point arc. The Seahawks out-rebounded Alfred, 22-6 in the first half, and went on to end the game with a 51-22 rebounding margin.
St. Mary's dominance continued in the second half as the Seahawks led by double digits for the remainder of the contest, including its largest lead of 17 at 13:09 (67-50) and 7:13 (80-63).
Forwards Calvin Wise (Bel Air, Md./Calvert Hall) and Mike Fitzpatrick (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) each contributed 14 points to the Seahawk offense, while Fitzpatrick grabbed eight rebounds. Griffin was held to his 13 first-half points, while sophomore guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) chipped in nine points, eight caroms, and equaled his season-high in assists for the fifth time with six.
Patt led all players with a career-high 34 points as he shot 11-of-18 from the floor and pulled down a team-best six boards, while sophomore guard Gary Kwiecien (Perry, N.Y./Perry) also put up career numbers with 18 points on 3-of-5 shooting from downtown. Kwiecien also dished out five assists and hauled in five rebounds. Sophomore guard Mike Stopera (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville) chipped in 10 points before fouling out.
St. Mary's returns to action after the New Year as they host Arcadia University on January 3 at 2:00 in a non-conference tilt.
