ARLINGTON, Va. - The fifth-seed Salisbury
University men's basketball team had its season come to an end on
Tuesday evening as the Sea Gulls dropped a 73-59 decision to
fourth-seed Marymount (Va.) University in the quarterfinal round of
the Capital Athletic Conference tournament.
Salisbury (12-14) was led by junior center Chris
McGrew (five rebounds) who tied a career-high mark with 18
points (7-for-11 from the floor). Junior guard Greg
Palmer (five rebounds) collected 13 points while sophomore
Ryan Hourihan (six points, six rebounds) and
junior guard Drew Dickson (six points, four
rebounds) contributed a combined 12 points.
SU fell behind early in the contest as Marymount took a 7-2 lead
two minutes in. The Saints (14-12) pushed their lead to eight
points on a three-pointer by Tarek Ammoury (10 points) but the Sea
Gulls were quick to answer. A three-pointer by Dickson capped a 9-0
SU run, which gave the Sea Gulls their first lead in the contest
17-16. The teams would trade baskets for the next seven minutes
before Marymount would jump ahead for good. The Saints used a 5-0
run to end the half as they marched into halftime up five, 32-27.
Marymount used a 9-4 run to start the second half and take a
10-point lead over Salisbury. The Sea Gulls answered as they scored
the game's next six points on three-point plays by McGrew and
Palmer. Marymount caught fire and answered back with a 7-0 spurt
which was snapped by senior guard Sean Whittaker,
who made a layup with just over 10 minutes left in the game. It
proved to be as close as the maroon and gold would get as the
Saints used a balanced effort to control the rest of the game. The
Sea Gulls struggled from three-point range as their missed shots
turned into Saints' points.
Marymount had four players notch double-digit point totals in
the game. Patrick Prewitt (six rebounds) scored a game-high 15
points while Rockwell Moody (12 points, three blocks) grabbed a
game-high nine rebounds. Ronnie Barbour came off the bench to score
12 points. Redell Spinks dished out a game-high four assists. The
Saints will move on to play top-seed Wesley College, who received a
bye, on Thursday evening in the conference semifinals.
The loss marked the final collegiate basketball contest for
seniors Brandon Abney, Tim
Brasel, Todd Dembroski, and Whittaker. SU
is slated to return a strong and deep senior class led by Palmer
and guard Devin Jones to go with a junior class
that gained valuable game experience this past season.
