No. 18 Seahawks Avoid Upset at the Hands of Marymount
St. Mary's City, Md. - Junior guard Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) poured in 25-second half points to finish the night with a season-high 31 points and help the No. 18 St. Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team avoid the upset with a 76-67 win over Marymount (Va.) University Saturday evening in Capital Athletic Conference action.
The Seahawks (7-0, 2-0 CAC), who are ranked 18th in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25, gave fourth-year head coach Chris Harney his first home victory against Marymount during his tenure. In four meetings in the ARC Arena, Marymount had previously come away with three wins before tonight's nine-point loss. This week's two conference wins also marked Coach Harney's 50th and 51st career wins at SMCM.
St. Mary's rolled out to a 25-10 advantage with 9:27 remaining in the first half before the Marymount defense stepped up and held the Seahawks to zero made field goals for the remainder of the stanza. The Saints capitalized on the SMCM scoring drought and used a 15-3 run to knock down their 15-point deficit to three at halftime.
Both teams had balanced scoring in the first half as the scoring leaders each had seven points. Senior center Alex Irmer (Alexandria, Va./Wakefield) led the Seahawks with seven on 3-of-3 shooting and six rebounds, while MU's senior forward Mike Gray (Alexandria, Va./St. Stephen-St. Agnes) had seven.
The score was tied five times in the second half as both sides were just trading baskets and neither was able to get a jump on the other. The last tie of the game came at 10:19 (46-46) following a pair of free throws by junior guard Redell Spinks (Lanham, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt). The Seahawks then went on a 22-12 run to pull away and secure the win.
St. Mary's defensive stance held steady against the Saints' perimeter shooting as Marymount was a mere 2-of-22 from beyond the three-point arc. The Seahawks also shot well from the free throw line, making 22-of-28 as Griffin alone was 14-of-17.
Sophomore forward Mike Fitzpatrick (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) picked up 10-second half points to match his season-high of 13 points, while Irmer ended the evening with 11 points and a game-high eight caroms.
Freshman forward Tarek Ammoury (McLean, Va./McLean) notched 13 of his team-best 17 points in the second half and grabbed a game-high nine boards in leading the Saints off the bench. Gray finished with a dozen points and six rebounds, while junior guard Patrick Prewitt (Mitchellville, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) added 10 points.
The Seahawks will return to action next Saturday, December 13 when St. Mary's travels to Baruch College in New York for non-conference action. Tip-off is set for 1:00.
