St. Mary's City, Md. – No. 16 St. Mary's College of Maryland (18-4, 12-1 CAC) swept the series with Marymount (Va.) University Saturday evening with an 82-52 Capital Athletic Conference victory while senior guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) broke the conference career record for steals in the process.
With six steals in today's contest, Franz elevated his all-time steals record to 301 (and counting) and surpassed the league's 16-year old record of 298 set by York (Pa.) College's Jeff Landis. Franz was also one of three Seahawks to score in double figures as he tallied 14 points and added six assists.
St. Mary's first-year center Christian MacAuley (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) led all players with 16 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks. MacAuley has blocked 69 shots this season, just four shy of breaking the school's single-season record of 72 set by Alex Robling '92 during the 1990-91 campaign.
Junior guard James Davenport (Owings Mills, Md./Loyola Blakefield) scored all of his 10 points in the first half, drilling two of the team's three long-range goals, in leading the Seahawks to a 39-21 advantage at the break. MacAuley also notched 10 first-half points on five-of-seven from the field.
Marymount (4-17, 2-10 CAC) led once (and only once) the entire game as junior forward John Magnani (Great Mills, Md./Great Mills) completed a jumper at 17:41 of the first half for a 4-2 Saint lead. The lead was short-lived by Marymount as the Seahawks coordinated an 18-6 run that had the home squad boasting a double-digit margin from the 10:08 mark on.
The dominance continued in the second half as St. Mary's shot 64.0 percent from the field and received 25 points from its bench players. The Seahawks augmented their lead to 38 with 4:25 left in the game as senior guard Joey Smith (College Park, Md./DeMatha) connected on a three-pointer to cap the team's 40-20 start to the second stanza.
St. Mary's finished shooting 56.6 percent from the field for the game for the second straight game and forced 19 Saint turnovers that translated into 30 points for the Seahawks.
Two players scored in double figures for Marymount as junior forward Andrew Somuah (Alexandria, Va./Edison) picked up 11 off the bench and grabbed seven caroms while first-year forward Reed Scott (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) chipped in 10 scores and seven boards.
The Seahawks return to action next Wednesday, February 9 when the Seahawks travel to the Eastern Shore to face Salisbury University in conference action at 8:00 pm.