Seahawk Men’s Basketball Falls Two Spots

Coach Harney

Sterling, Va. - Following their loss to then-No. 6 Franklin & Marshall College, the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team dropped two slots in the D3hoops.com Week 2 Top 25 released Tuesday afternoon as St. Mary's ranks 14th in this week's national poll.

The Seahawks (5-1) rebounded with a pair of Capital Athletic Conference victories over Marymount (Va.) University and Stevenson University to remain in the Top 15 this week.  Franklin & Marshall, who is St. Mary's only blemish this season, slipped in the poll as well, falling from No. 10 to No. 16 after dropping a 60-51 decision to McDaniel College on December 5.

As a team, St. Mary's currently leads the conference in scoring defense as the Seahawks hold their opponents to 67.2 points per game.  SMCM is also first in the CAC in free throw percentage (.743), steals (10.8 per game), and turnover margin with +7.50 (having committed 45 fewer turnovers than its opponents).

Senior guard Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) is the CAC's scoring leader with 26.3 points per game, helping St. Mary's to a third-best scoring offense of 79.5 points per game.  Griffin also leads conference players with 2.8 steals per game while ranking second in free throw percentage (.884).

Junior guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) is averaging a conference-best 5.8 assists per game and owns the top assist-to-turnover margin at 2.3 while ranking second in steals (2.7 spg).

Junior center Sam  Burum (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) and  sophomore forward Brian Grashof (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) remain ranked in the top five in the conference as Grashof ranks third in field goal percentage (.625) and Burum is fifth in free throw percentage (.813).

St. Mary's will be back on the court tomorrow as the Seahawks face Salisbury University for the second time this season in a conference tilt at 8:00 pm.  In the Pride of Maryland semifinals on November 21, SMCM pulled out a 78-76 victory over the Sea Gulls.