SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University men's basketball team came out of the gate quickly and earned its first win of 2026 by starting its contest with the Swarthmore College Garnet on a 17-2 run enroute to a 66-48 victory on Saturday's Youth Day game, presented by Seaside Smiles.
The Sea Gulls (7-7) went wire-to-wire and got on the board first with a three from
Jamison Graves aided by
Aidan Camper.
Leon Elung picked up a pair of buckets, Camper buried a triple of his own and Graves hit a mid-range jumper during the 17-2 blitz by the hosts.
After a pause in the scoring,
Elung located Calvin Thomas in the paint for a layup with eight minutes remaining in the opening frame. The Garnet (6-5) chipped into the deficit to make it 20-11, but Thomas racked up four more points to make it an 11-point Salisbury lead with under five minutes to go in the half.
Elung assisted on the following two buckets for the Maroon and Gold, finding
Elijah Bryan from the elbow and
Churchill Bounds in the paint. Bounds banked in a layup before Swarthmore's Eddie Paquette hit from behind the arc to make it a six-point game. However, Bryan bookended the stanza with a driving layup to make it 32-24 Sea Gulls at the half.
The Garnet drew first blood in the ladder frame, but Bounds countered from distance, then assisted Camper from downtown to swing the momentum back towards the Gulls. Twos from
Tyler Ball and
Jaylen Shippen got the advantage back up to 13, a stand from the Salisbury defense led right into Ball knocking down a three-pointer, and Bounds kept his rhythm, nailing a post hook to get the Sea Gulls a 16-point lead.
Swarthmore cut the Salisbury lead in half with 5:56 remaining in regulation. The Sea Gulls took control in the final five minutes and tightened the screws by going on a 13-0 run, led by Bounds' five points to dismiss the comeback bid.
GAME NOTES
- Bounds collected career-highs in points (18), rebounds (10) and threes made (2) to pick up his first career double-double.
- Bryan played a career-high 28 minutes and also had career highs in boards (8) and blocks (3).
- Ball contributed 11 points and led the team with three steals.
- Camper made two threes and scored ten points with five assists and four rebounds
- Salisbury shot 47.1 percent (24-51) from the field, 35.3 percent (6-17) from beyond the arc and 57.1 percent (12-21) from the charity stripe.
- The Sea Gulls held the Garnet to a 30.6 percent field goal percentage and a 17.2 percent (5-29) clip from beyond the arc.
The Sea Gulls return to action on Monday inside Maggs Gym at 5:00 p.m. against Delmarva Peninsula rival Washington College.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming), Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse), State University of New York Athletic Conference (field hockey), and Colonial Women's Golf Conference (women's golf). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have won a combined 23 team national championships, 24 individual national championships, and 206 conference championships, and have produced 53 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.
