St. Mary’s Stuns Division II Bowie State in Exhibition Game

Box Score

Washington, D.C. - Junior transfer Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) tallied a game-high 25 points in leading the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team to an 82-75 upset of NCAA Division II Bowie State University in an exhibition contest Friday night at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. 

Bowie State, was picked to finish first in the Eastern Division of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), had trouble putting away the Seahawks in the beginning as the Bulldogs were unable to establish a lead larger than five.

But a pair of free throws by freshman forward Eric Moore (Oxon Hill, Md./Progressive Christian Academy) and a jumper by junior guard Charles Richardson (Suitland, Md./Suitland) broke a 16-16 tie and sparked an 18-1 run, giving BSU its biggest lead of 17 (34-17) at 6:43. 

St. Mary's, who advanced to the Sweet Sixteen last season, demonstrated its composure by slowly pecking away at the deficit, using an 18-4 run to be down only 39-35 at halftime.

Griffin poured in 19 of his game-high 25 to lead all players at the half.  He was 5-of-6, including 2-of-2 from downtown, in 18 minutes played.  Senior forward Curtis Massey (Upper Marlboro, Md./Largo) paced BSU with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while junior Delmar Carey pulled down seven rebounds. 

Back-to-back lay-ups by sophomore guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) to start the second half knotted the game at 39-39 and initiated the Seahawks' push to take over the lead.  Following a 66-66 tie at 5:57, St. Mary's finally was able to establish a solid lead as a lay-up by freshman guard James Davenport (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) snapped the tie and the Seahawks closed out the game on a 16-9 run.
 
Davenport finished the game with 16 points as he was 12-of-15 from the free throw line, while senior captain Calvin Wise (Bel Air, Md./Calvert Hall) added 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds.  Franz dished out a game-high six assists and contributed seven points and eight boards.

The Bulldogs had three players notch double figures in scoring as junior center Cassin Diggs (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) led the way with a double-double on 15 points and a game-high 10 caroms, while Massey dropped a team-best 18 points and Richardson tallied 17.

St. Mary's will kick off the 2008-09 campaign on November 21 against Nazareth College at the Penn State-Behrend Tip-Off Tournament in Erie, Pa.  Tip-off is set for 6:00.  The consolation/championship games will take place November 22.  The other tournament participants are Bethany (W.Va.) College and Penn State-Behrend.