No. 12 Seahawks Storm Past Stevenson
St. Mary's City, Md. - Four Seahawks finished in double digits as the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team surpassed the century mark in their 103-71 Capital Athletic Conference victory over Stevenson University Saturday afternoon.
Senior guard Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) connected on 12-of-18 shots for a game-high 30 points while junior Mike Fitzpatrick (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) added a season-high 16 points and sophomore forward Brian Grashof (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown W.) contributed career-bests of 14 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Devin Spencer (Baltimore, Md./Towson Catholic) chipped in season-bests of 11 points, four points and three rebounds off the bench.
Stevenson (1-7, 1-1 CAC) gave the Seahawks a run for their money in the first half as the lead changed seven times in the first half. The Mustangs forged an early lead as senior Irvin Jones (Landover, Md./Riverdale Baptist) opened up the contest with a three-pointer.
After St. Mary's broke a 26-26 tie with a 6-0 spurt, Stevenson claimed its final lead of the game, 40-38, at 1:47 as Jones' three-pointer capped a 14-6 run. The home team received a pair of two-point shots from Griffin to head into intermission with a 44-41 advantage. Griffin led all players with 13 first-half points.
Jones paced the visitors with 14 points while sophomore Greg Collins (Baltimore, Md./Western Tech) added 13 points and a team-high six rebounds.
The Seahawks (5-1, 2-0 CAC), who are ranked 12th in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25, let loose in the second half as SMCM opened up the second half with back-to-back three-pointers from Griffin and junior guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons). St. Mary's shot a blistering 78.1% from the floor and 60.0% from behind the three-point arc, outscoring the Mustangs, 59-30, in the final 20 minutes.
Franz had a selfless afternoon with a season-high 11 assists while adding eight points, four caroms and three steals.
St. Mary's will be back on the court next Wednesday, December 9 as the Seahawks welcome league foe, Salisbury University, for their second meeting of the season at 8:00 pm. Their first encounter took place on November 21 when the two met in the semifinals of the Pride of Maryland Tournament. St. Mary's came away with a 78-76 victory.
