St. Mary's City, Md. – No. 16 St. Mary's College of Maryland stymied a late second half rally by University of Mary Washington to notch a 69-58 Capital Athletic Conference victory Saturday afternoon and sweep the season series with Mary Washington.
The Seahawks (15-4, 9-1 CAC) head to Frederick on a three-game win streak as they take on Hood College for the third time this season on Monday, January 31. The game will be played at Frederick Community College (7932 Opossumtown Pike). Tip-off is at 9:00 pm. St. Mary's 2-0 against Hood this season, picking up wins on November 19 (77-60 in Pride of Maryland semifinal) and December 11 (87-58).
Senior captain Sam Burum (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) tallied 20 points, including 14 in the first half, on seven-of-11 and six-of-six from the free throw line. Fellow team captain, senior guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons), added 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals while first-year center Christian MacAuley (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) hauled in a game-best 10 rebounds and turned away five Eagle shots.
The score was tied four times and the lead changed three times in the first half after a slow, sloppy start to the game by both sides. Mary Washington (12-6, 6-4 CAC) owned just a 6-0 lead after nearly six minutes had expired. The Seahawks tied up the game three times but Mary Washington always held on to its lead.
Sophomore guard Devin Spencer (Baltimore, Md./Towson Catholic) changed all that when he finished up an old-fashioned three-point play at 7:05 to return the lead to the home team and spark a 10-2 run for the Seahawks' biggest lead of the half (8) with 4:39 left in the half. Five points from junior forward Tad Dickman (Springfield, Va./Robert E. Lee) cut St. Mary's lead in half as the Seahawks headed into the locker room with a 29-25 halftime margin.
The Seahawks started the second half with a 19-4 run to put Mary Washington in their rearview mirror. However, the Eagles responded with a significant run of their own – a 21-8 run in a near nine-minute span – to deflate a 20-point deficit to just 56-50 with 5:17 left to play. Mary Washington would get no closer as St. Mary's hung on for the win, closing out the game with a MacAuley dunk.
Three Eagles scored in double figures as first-year forward E.J. Ellis (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) picked up 16, first-year guard Bradley Riester (Richmond, Va./Monacan) had 13 and Dickman finished with 12. Dickman also had a team-best eight boards.