Seahawks Hold Off Late Susquehanna Rally
Santurce, P.R. - The St. Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team squandered a 20-point second-half lead but managed to hold off a late comeback attempt by Susquehanna University for a 72-66 non-conference victory at the Puerto Rico Division III Classic hosted by Universidad del Sagrado Corazon Saturday evening.
Junior forward Johann Jones (Severn, Md./Meade Senior) paced the Seahawks (7-2) with a career-high 15 points off the bench on 6-of-7 shooting while matching his career-best eight rebounds. Freshman guard Chris Hutchinson (Baltimore, Md./New Town) added a season-best 13 while junior guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) contributed 12 points, eight boards, seven assists, and five steals. Junior center Sam Burum (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) chipped in 10 points and a game-high nine caroms.
Susquehanna (5-4) slowly but steadily whittled a 20-point deficit in the game's final 10:40 as the Crusaders outscored St. Mary's, 40-29, in the second half. Senior forward Marcus Burke (Hyde Park, Mass./Brimmer and May) sparked SU with a three-point play as the Crusaders posted a 28-10 run to pull within 68-66 with 16 seconds left in regulation after freshman Harvey Pannell (Bloomfield, Conn./St. Thomas More) connected on a pair of free throws.
Burum's dunk extended the Seahawk lead back to four at 00:10 while a pair of Franz free throws iced the win in the final two seconds.
Pannell tallied a game-high 17 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting to lead Susquehanna while grabbing five rebounds. Sophomore guard Spenser Spencer (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside) and freshman forward J.T. Wilson (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional) each picked up 15 points.
The Seahawks rolled out to a nine-point lead in the first half before Susquehanna closed the gap to 13-9 at 14:17 on a three-pointer by Wilson. That was the closest the Crusaders would get in the first half as a quick 9-3 spurt bolstered St. Mary's advantage to double-digits for the remainder of the half. The Seahawks boasted a 43-26 halftime lead.
St. Mary's will continue action in the Caribbean tomorrow as the Seahawks take on Universidad Metropolitana at 5:00 pm in their final game of the Puerto Rico Division III Classic.
