SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University men's basketball team honored its seniors in a major way, thwarting the visiting Mary Washington Eagles, 71-57, on Saturday in its final home game of the 2021-22 season.

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both teams came out ready to play, trading baskets to start the game. Down 10-8, with 16:20 on the clock, Gary Briddell was able to find some open space under the basket and make a layup that knotted the game at 10 and spark an 11-1 scoring run for the Sea Gulls over the next few minutes.
• Following a made layup by Daniel Peterson cut the Sea Gull lead down to 22-16 midway through the first, Salisbury went on a 19-6 run to take command of the game. During the run, Briddell and Greg Bloodsworth scored 13 of the 22 points scored in the run to push Salisbury's lead up to 41-22 with just over a minute left in the half.
• Back-to-back jumpers by Bloodsworth and Jordan Oates gave the Sea Gulls the 45-27 lead at halftime.
• Mary Washington came out of halftime on a 9-2 scoring run to cut the Salisbury lead down to 11 points, 47-36, four minutes into the second half and forced a timeout.
• Coming out of the timeout, the Sea Gulls scored six unanswered points, four of which were knocked down by Cameron Heard to push Salisbury's lead back up to 53-36 with 14:30 on the clock.
• Both teams continued to trade baskets but Salisbury got hot from range. Salisbury got out to its largest lead of the day, 68-47, after Oates sank a deep ball with five minutes left in the game. Salisbury went on cruise control for the rest of the game to seal the win over its Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference rival.

SALISBURY GAMES NOTES

• Greg Bloodsworth scored a game-high 18 points off the bench on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-for-6 from deep. He also collected five rebounds and four assists.
• Gary Briddell moved up to 14th on SU's all-time scoring list after he scored 16 points on 7-for-13 from the field. He also grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists and stole the ball three times.
• Jordan Oates recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds. The sophomore also handed out three assists and stole the ball twice.
• Brandon Craig chipped in seven points, four rebounds, and three steals off the bench.
• Salisbury won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Mary Washington 40-31.
• Salisbury shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the floor compared to Mary Washington's 38.7 percent (24-of-62).
• Prior to the game, Salisbury honored seniors Briddell, Desmond Creek, Rob Goyena and Johnny Fierstein.

MARY WASHINGTON GAME NOTES

• Emmanuel Aghayere led the Eagles in scoring off the bench, with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
• Riley Welch scored 11 points and grabbed three rebounds.
• Anias Saunders tallied nine points and nine rebounds.
• Daniel Peterson recorded a team-high 10 rebounds off the bench.

UP NEXT

• Salisbury will travel to Newport News, Va. on Saturday, Feb. 12 to take on the No. 4 Christopher Newport Captains.
• Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Freeman Center.

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.