Wilkes-Barre, PA --- The Brooklyn College Men's Basketball team fell to the Sea Gulls of Salisbury University in the first game of the PNC/Ramada Inn Classic Tournament hosted by King's College by a score of 64-62, earlier today. With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 3-5 overall on the season, while the Sea Gulls improve to 5-4.
The first half featured a tight battle through the first eight minutes of action as both teams tied on five occasions. After a Keiran Halton jumper tied the game at 12-12 with 12:36 remaining before the break, the Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run to take a commanding 22-12 lead with 7:49 left in the opening stanza. Brooklyn would control the rest of the half and use another 10-0 run to close out the half and head into the locker room with a 15-point, 38-23, halftime advantage.
The Bulldogs maintained their lead throughout much of the second half; however Salisbury would chip into their deficit and eventually tie the game at 60 apiece with 2:45 left in the game. A jumper from Tyshawn Russell regained the lead for Brooklyn at 62-60, but the Sea Gulls tied the game again on a pair of free throws from Chris McGrew. McGrew would strike again for Salisbury netting the would-be game winning layup with 31 seconds left in the game. The bucket would give the Sea Gulls their first lead since the 12:37 mark of the first half. Brooklyn had its chances down the stretch with a would-be game winning three-point attempt, followed by a game-tying put back attempt, but was unable to convert on either shot.
After shooting just 33.3% (10-for-30) from the floor and 0-for-7 from three in the first half, Salisbury turned its shooting fortune around in the second half to fuel its comeback, shooting 70% (14-for-20) from the field, including going 6-for-8 (75%) from beyond the arc to outscore Brooklyn 41-24 in the second stanza.
David Pearman led all scores for Salisbury with a game-high 23 points, doing most of his damage from three going 5-for-9 from downtown. McGrew finished with 19 points, while Mike Maczko filled up the stat sheet with a game-high nine rebounds, to go with eight points and a game-high six assists.
Leading the way for Brooklyn was Russell who finished the game with a team-high 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field. Amil John also scored in double figures with 13 points, to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Halton, Ahmad Hemingway and Steven Grant all chipped in with eight points each. Hemingway also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Brooklyn returns to action tomorrow, Saturday, December 11th as the Bulldogs will take on SUNY-Potsdam in the consolation game of the PNC/Ramada Inn Classic Tournament. SUNY-Potsdam lost to host King's College in the second game of the night, 86-72. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm.