Wesley Squanders Lead, No. 17 Seahawks Win by Two; Griffin Notches 1,000th Point
St. Mary's City, Md. - Freshman Paul Reynolds (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) and Wesley College were poised to upset No. 17 St. Mary's College of Maryland in Capital Athletic Conference men's basketball action Tuesday night before the Seahawks erased a 14-point deficit and nipped Wesley for the 75-73 victory.
The Wolverines (15-7, 9-5 CAC), the defending CAC champions, seemed to be cruising to their ninth consecutive win, boasting a 51-37 advantage over nationally-ranked St. Mary's with 16:41 remaining the game. The Seahawks commanded their first lead of the game in the next 10 minutes as junior center Sam Burum's (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) fast break lay-up capped a 23-8 run.
Junior Rudy Thomas (Milton, Del./Sussex Tech) responded on Wesley's next possession with a long range shot to momentarily return the lead back to the visitors before the Seahawks regained control with a 12-4 spurt. St. Mary's established a six-point margin with 1:13 remaining and held on to halt the Wolverines' win streak at eight games.
With his layup at 3:26 of the second half, senior guard
Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) joined
the elite group of St. Mary's 1,000 point scorers.
Griffin finished with 22 points and now has 1,001
career points. He also matched his season-high of five
assists.
Junior guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) contributed 13 points and game-highs of seven assists and four steals for the Seahawks while sophomore forward Brian Grashof (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and a career-best two steals.
St. Mary's (19-3, 11-2 CAC) has now won 18 straight regular-season home games in the ARC Arena with tonight's win. The Seahawks' last regular-season home loss was a 72-70 setback to Marymount (Va.) University on January 30, 2008.
The Seahawks had no answer for Wesley in the first 20 minutes as the Wolverines led the entire first half, including boasting 11-point margins twice. Reynolds notched 14 first-half points in leading the visitors to a 42-33 halftime advantage. Wesley's strong perimeter defense, which is ranked 24th in Division III, and up-tempo offensive kept St. Mary's off-balance in the first half.
The reigning CAC Player of the Week, Reynolds finished with a game-high 25 points and nine boards while sophomore guard Chris Douglas (Landover, Md./Jericho Prep Academy) added 12 points and three assists. Senior forward Jacques Bowe (Millsboro, Del./Sussex Tech) also reached double figures with 11 points while senior forward Alphonzo Wright (Dover, Del./Polytech) hauled in a game-high 11 caroms.
The Seahawks will be back on the court tomorrow night as St. Mary's travels to Washington, D.C. to face Gallaudet University in more conference action at 8:00 pm. The Seahawks posted an 83-52 win over Gallaudet in the ARC Arena on January 16 as three players reached double figures.
