St. Mary's City, Md. – Junior forward Mikey Fitzpatrick (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) finally found his rhythm again as Fitzpatrick poured in a career-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting in leading No. 17 St. Mary's College of Maryland to a convincing 88-60 triumph over Frostburg State University in Capital Athletic Conference men's basketball action Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the first-place Seahawks (12-3, 6-0 CAC) avenged a November 20th 56-54 loss to Frostburg State in the Pride of Maryland championship title game.
Fitzpatrick carried the team in the first half with 15 points as the Seahawks found themselves down seven with 10:30 remaining in the half. Fitzpatrick converted two free throws to close the gap to three before hitting his first of four bombs at 5:40 to knot the game at 21-21. St. Mary's then used a 20-9 run that included 10 points from Fitzpatrick to take control of the game and lead 41-30 at halftime.
The Seahawks connected on over 50% of their shots in the second half, including 5-of-9 from downtown, to outscore Frostburg 47-30 over the final 20 minutes. The Bobcats suffered a scoreless drought during a 4:37-minute span of the second stanza while St. Mary's went on an 8-0 splurge to bolster a 22-point margin with nearly seven minutes left.
A balanced rebounding performance allowed the Seahawks to dominate the glass, 46 to 24, including grabbing 30 defensive boards. Senior captain Sam Burum (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) led the effort with a game-best eight caroms while first-year center Christian MacAuley (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) hauled in his seven rebounds at the defensive end of the court.
Fitzpatrick ended the afternoon with 7-of-9 shooting, including a 4-of-5 presence from downtown, while making all five of his free throw attempts. Burum and MacAuley joined Fitzpatrick in double-figure scoring as Burum picked up 14 and MacAuley added 10. Senior captain Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) contributed eight points, six assists, and four boards.
Senior forward Mhabhushah Koffa (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) paced the Bobcats (7-10, 2-6 CAC) with 12 points and three assists while junior forward Bradley Nunn (Ft. Washington, Md./Riverdale Baptist) notched 11 and seven rebounds.
St. Mary's will look for its fourth straight win on Monday, January 17 as the Seahawks travel to Dover for a conference tilt at Wesley College at 4:00 pm. Monday's match up will be a rematch of last year's CAC championship game, which St. Mary's won 80-76 for the program's third conference title.