ARLINGTON, Va. – The Salisbury University men's basketball team overcame a four-point deficit at halftime to defeat the Marymount Saints, 74-71, Friday afternoon at the Converse Family Field House in Arlington, Va.
BOX SCORE
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Both teams came out and traded baskets to open the game. With 17:23 on the clock,
Brandon Craig found open space under the basket for a layup to tie things up at six and spark an 11-0 run for the Sea Gulls. The run was capped off when
Jordan Oates made a second-chance layup to give the Sea Gulls the 15-6 lead with 15 minutes left in the first.
• Salisbury continued to tack onto its lead, going up by as much as 12 points after
Paul Garcia sank a three to make it 24-12 with 10:30 on the clock.
• Down eight with 5:44 left in the first, Wyatt Hockenberry put the Saints on his back and scored seven unanswered points, capped off by a long ball, to cut into the Salisbury lead, 31-30.
• Oates drew a foul in the ensuing possession and hit one of his free-throws to stop the Saints scoring run, but Nick Rivas was able to make a second-chance bucket for the Saints to knot things up at 32.
• Marcus Stubbs hit back-to-back threes for Marymount to take the lead, 38-32, with 21 seconds left. Stubbs went for his third in a row, but came up short off the iron with five seconds left and allowed
Cameron Heard to find a streaking
Gary Briddell down the court for a buzzer-beating layup to send the Sea Gulls into the halftime locker room down four, 38-34.
• Craig came out of the locker room hot, scoring the next eight points for Salisbury as part of an 8-2 run to open the second half and put the Sea Gulls back on top, 42-40, with 17:30 left to play.
• The teams began to trade baskets and lead changes for the next several minutes. With the game knotted at 51 with just over 10 minutes to go, Oates made another second-chance layup, followed by a trey that sparked a quick 7-1 run for Salisbury to make it 58-52 with just over eight minutes left.
• Jared Perry drilled a three with 7:34 left that brought the Saints within one. But, the Sea Gulls responded with another quick 8-2 scoring run that put them up 66-59 with 1:38 left in regulation.
• That lead would be enough cushion for Salisbury to secure the win, as Marymount was forced to put the Sea Gulls at the line in the closing minute of the game. Salisbury hit its free throws in the waning moments to hold off Marymount. Hockenberry hit his sixth three-pointer of the day in the closing seconds but the game finished with a final score of 74-71.
SALISBURY GAME NOTES
• Salisbury had the shooting advantage, shooting 53.4 percent (31-for-58) from the field compared to Marymount's 39.7 percent (25-for-63).
• The Sea Gulls won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Saints 39-29.
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Jordan Oates recorded his seventh double-double of the season after he scored a team-high 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-5 from deep. Oates also hauled in a game-high 18 rebounds and added five assists and a steal.
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Brandon Craig hit double figures for the sixth consecutive game. He tallied 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting and added three boards.
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Gary Briddell recorded eight points, three assists and three rebounds.
MARYMOUNT GAME NOTES
• Wyatt Hockenberry scored a game-high 24 points, including going 6-for-8 from three.
• Marcus Stubbs scored 20 points and grabbed four rebounds.
• Montell Cooper chipped in with 11 points and four rebounds off the bench.
• The Saints held the edge in the long ball, shooting 40.7 percent (11-for-27) compared to the Sea Gulls' 30.8 percent (4-for-13).
UP NEXT
• Salisbury opens up Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) play with the eighth-ranked Christopher Newport Captains on Wednesday, Feb. 2.
• Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Maggs PAC in Salisbury, Md.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football and the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 186 conference championships and 41 Academic All-Americans.
To learn more about the tradition of excellence with Sea Gull Athletics, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.
