SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University men's basketball team had several chances to win Wednesday night's Capital Athletic Conference showdown with Marymount (Va.) University in the closing seconds but came up short as the Saints won 62-60 before 336 at the Maggs Center on Coaches vs. Cancer Night.

Salisbury (10-14, 7-8 CAC) and Marymount (13-11, 8-7 CAC) entered Wednesday's game tied for fourth place in the conference. The win by the Saints guarantees a playoff berth and gives Marymount the inside track to host a quarterfinal game next week. SU currently sits in fifth place with one game left in the regular-season. The Sea Gulls will host Hood College (9-15, 6-9 CAC) on Saturday, February 21, at 4 p.m. The Blazers and York (Pa.) College (8-16, 6-9 CAC) are tied for sixth in the CAC.

SU took a 60-58 lead with 1:11 left in the game as junior forward Greg Palmer (17 points, three assists, two blocks) drained his third and final three-pointer. The Saints forced a fifth tie in the game on a Elvis Ellis (12 points) bucket with 50 seconds left. After a timeout the Gulls ran down the shot clock before junior guard Devin Jones (12 points, five assists) fired up a jumper that clanged off the rim. Sophomore forward Ryan Hourihan snatched down the rebound as SU coach Steve Holmes used another team timeout with 11 seconds left. Out of the break SU ran a screen for Palmer, who launched up a shot that didn't find the bottom of the net. Saints guard Patrick Prewitt, the reigning CAC Player of the Week, ripped down his fifth rebound and bolted down the court and made a lay-up with three seconds left. Prewitt ended the game with a game-high 18 points. SU had one final shot but Jones' three-pointer bounced off the rim as time expired.

The Sea Gulls scored the game's first four points but fell flat as the Saints took the lead and pushed the advantage to 10 with 7:11 left in the first half. The teams traded baskets the rest of the way as Marymount took a 29-19 lead into halftime.

In the second half, SU started red hot as it put together an 11-2 run to cut the Saints' lead down to one, 32-31, with 15 minutes left in the game. The Gulls seemed to have taken the momentum at the 13:08 mark when Hourihan stole the ball, raced down the court and threw down a thunderous left-handed dunk that brought the Maggs Center to life. Marymount was able to cool down the Gulls with a three-pointer by Prewitt just as the shot clock expired and tacked on another three moments later.

Salisbury junior guard Ronald Mann (nine points) had an excellent game as he led the team in rebounds with six. Marymount was led by freshman Tarek Ammoury as he finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. The Saints outrebounded the Sea Gulls 37-28.

SU will honor its seniors on Saturday when Hood comes to town for the final regular-season game of the year for the maroon and gold.