ARLINGTON, Va. - The Salisbury University men's basketball team claimed a 63-61 victory over Capital Athletic Conference opponent Marymount (Va.) University on Wednesday night at Verizon Sports Arena in Arlington, Va. The Sea Gulls, who led wire-to-wire, held off a strong second half comeback by the Saints to collect their third consecutive CAC victory.

Salisbury (8-9, 5-3 CAC) was led by junior guard Greg Palmer who notched his 12th consecutive double-digit game with a game-high 16 points and three rebounds. SU was paced by the efforts of junior guards Devin Jones (13 points, five assists), Ronald Mann (nine points, two assists), and Drew Dickson (nine points). Sophomore center Chris McGrew grabbed a game-high eight rebounds in the victory.

The Sea Gulls took an early lead behind a pair of free-throws by McGrew but Marymount would respond with a jumper by Sam Sentz  to force the only tie of the game.  SU would immediately answer back with a layup by McGrew at the 17:02 mark and Salisbury would never look back. The Marymount deficit was held to within two baskets before the Sea Gulls used a 6-0 run to take a nine point lead, 19-10, with six minutes remaining in the half. The Saints did not lie down as they used a 12-3 run of their own over the next 3:21 minutes to drop the Sea Gull lead to two points, 24-22. SU held a five point advantage, 30-25, at halftime. Palmer led all Sea Gull scorers with seven first half points.

Marymount (6-9, 2-5 CAC) came out of the intermission on fire. The Saints pushed their way back into the game with a 9-2 run early in the second half to drop their deficit to just one point, 39-38. The Sea Gulls would counter the run by holding Marymount scoreless over the next 3:37 minutes as they increased their lead to nine points. Marymount broke down the SU advantage to four points with six minutes remaining in the game on consecutive layups by Patrick Prewitt (nine points, five rebounds) and Tarek Ammoury. SU responded with back-to-back three-point baskets by Jones and Palmer to take its largest lead of the contest, ten points, to make the score 58-48. Marymount scored the next seven points to bring the game within three points but Salisbury would make three consecutive free-throw attempts to seal the victory.

The Saints were guided by four players who notched double-digit points. Ronnie Barbour (12 points) and Sentz (11 points) paced the Marymount attack. Ammoury (six rebounds, four assists) and Mike Gray each contributed 10 points.

Salisbury returns to action on Saturday, January 24 at 4 p.m. with a Capital Athletic Conference match against Hood College. The Sea Gulls and Blazers split the season series last season, 1-1.