SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury
University men's basketball team knocked off the first-place team
in the Capital Athletic Conference on Wednesday night at the Maggs
Center as the Sea Gulls upset Hood College, 81-67. This is the
second straight win in the three-game homestand for the Gulls and
the first time this season SU (4-13, 2-6 CAC) has won back-to-back
games.
Salisbury junior guard Wesley Sweet drained a
three-pointer at the 11:26 mark in the first half to give the Sea
Gulls a 16-15 lead over the Blazers (12-5, 6-2 CAC).
SU would not trail the rest of the game.
The Sea Gulls closed out the first half on a 23-7 run in the
final seven minutes, highlighted by six three-pointers, to take a
commanding 43-26 lead into halftime. The Sea Gulls shot 8-of-14
(57.1 percent) from behind the three-point line in the first half.
Sophomore Greg Palmer and senior Gary
Ward did a lot of damage from long range for SU. The duo
both drained three three-pointers apiece as they combined to score
24 of the 43 opening half points for the Sea Gulls.
Palmer ended the game with 26 points, a game-high and a point
shy of his career best. Ward was one of three Sea Gulls in double
figures as he recorded 11 points.
The Sea Gulls cushioned their lead midway through the second
half as the maroon and gold outscored the Blazers 15-6. Hood
entered the game as the best defensive team in the CAC (68.1 points
per game average) and the second best scoring team in the
conference (78.2 points per game). This is the worse loss for the
Blazers this season and the first road loss since November 25,
2007.
SU senior Jonas Vaitkus scored two of his 16
points on a lay-up at the 5:39 mark to give the Sea Gulls their
biggest lead of the night, 23 points, 72-49. The Sea Gulls scored
24 points off 15 Hood turnovers. Salisbury only committed eight
turnovers, a new season best, for the entire game.
The SU win also snaps Hood's five-game win streak and drops the
Blazers back into a three-way tie with University of Mary
Washington and York (Pa.) College, who both won on Wednesday, atop
the CAC standings. Hood still holds a 3-2 series advantage over
Salisbury.
Hood's leading point scorer Ryan Junghans (20.4 points per game,
third in the CAC) was held to just 11 points (four in the second
half) in 28 minutes. Guards Nick Scott and Tim Abercrombie matched
Junghans' 11-point total to lead the Blazers.
Salisbury has reached the midway point in its CAC schedule with
a 2-6 record. The maroon and gold will now face the same eight
teams in the next month leading to the CAC tournament at the end of
February.
The second half of the CAC schedule begins Saturday, January 26,
when the Sea Gulls welcome Mary Washington to town at 4 p.m. in the
third and final game of this homestand for the Sea Gulls.
Note: The SU men's and women's basketball teams
both defeated Hood College by the same score, 81-67, on Wednesday
night.
