No. 20 St. Mary’s Begins Title Defense with Win at McDaniel
Westminster, Md. - The defending Pride of Maryland champions, No. 20 St. Mary's College of Maryland, began defense of its title Friday night with an 83-56 season-opening triumph over host McDaniel College in first round action of the Pride of Maryland Championship presented by M&T Bank.
The next road block on the Seahawks' quest for a repeat will be Salisbury University, who was a 65-63 win over Goucher College tonight as well. St. Mary's will face the Sea Gulls tomorrow night at 8:00 pm in Towson as Goucher will serve as the host for the remaining two days of the Pride of Maryland.
St. Mary's (1-0), who started the season ranked No. 20 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 preseason poll, never trailed following a three-point play by senior captain Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) which diminished McDaniel's early (and only) 2-0 lead at 16:41. The Seahawks rolled to a 40-25 halftime lead as the team shot 41.9% from the floor and made 13-of-15 free throws.
SMCM's junior captain Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) paced all players in the first half with 12 points while sophomore forward Louis Sarris-Grau (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) of McDaniel hauled in five boards.
The Seahawks continued their dominance in the second half as the reigning champions boasted a double-digit margin for the final 20 minutes, shooting 46.2% from the floor, including 57.1% from downtown.
The St. Mary's defense did a number on the host Green Terror, holding them to just 28.6% shooting for the game and forcing 23 turnovers.
Franz finished the game with 14 points leading a foursome of Seahawks in double-figure scoring. Junior center Sam Burum (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) tallied career-highs of 13 points, six rebounds, and three steals while Griffin finished with a dozen points. Junior forward Johann Jones (Severn, Md./Meade Senior) added career-highs of 10 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals while junior forward Kyle Jarczynski (Bel Air, Md./Calvert Hall) hauled in a career-best 10 caroms plus eight points.
Sarris-Grau was the Green Terror's leading scorer with 11 points and six rebounds as well as two blocks while sophomore center Woody Butler (Smithsburg, Md./Middletown) contributed nine points and a team-high eight boards.
