St. Mary's City, Md. – No. 18 St. Mary's College of Maryland is headed to its third Capital Athletic Conference championship game in four years as the top-seeded Seahawks eliminated fourth-seeded University of Mary Washington, 79-57, in semifinal action Thursday night.
St. Mary's (20-5) will face its nemesis, second-seeded Wesley College (17-9), in Saturday's title game at 2:00 pm. Wesley advanced after holding off sixth-seeded Salisbury University, 75-74, in tonight's other semifinal matchup. Last season, the Seahawks handed Wesley an 80-76 setback in the championship game for the program's third CAC title.
First-year center Christian MacAuley (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) matched his career-high with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting and recorded his third double-double of the season by adding a game-best 13 rebounds. Senior guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) contributed 18 points as well along with seven assists and four steals while junior Mikey Fitzpatrick (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) chipped in 10 points off the bench.
First-year forward E.J. Willis (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) sandwiched a Seahawk turnover with a pair of long-range bombs to get Mary Washington (16-10) off to a 6-0 start. Once St. Mary's had The Rock back in their hands, they lit up the Eagles for three straight three-point field goals, made their first five field goals, and took a 13-11 lead at 15:39.
Five straight points by junior guard Mike Harvey (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) and another Willis bomb returned the lead to Mary Washington but it was short-lived as a three-point shot by sophomore guard Devin Spencer (Baltimore, Md./Towson Catholic) at 11:20 sparked a 24-9 run to close out the half and suck the wind from the Eagles' sails. The Seahawks cruised to a 42-27 halftime advantage.
For the second time this season, St. Mary's shot 64.0 percent in first half action and finished the game with 55.4 percent from the field. The Seahawks dominated the paint, 40 to 22, while posting a 36-25 rebounding margin.
After 11 first-half points, Willis was held to just four points in the second half but still finished as Mary Washington's leading scorer. Harvey was the only other Eagle to score in double digits with 11 points and team-best five caroms.