St. Mary's City, Md. – No. 13 St. Mary's College of Maryland (23-5) advanced to the second round of the 2011 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Tournament with a 72-55 victory over Medgar Evers College (17-12) Friday evening in front of a sellout crowd at the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena on the St. Mary's campus.
The Seahawks advance to the second round of the national tournament for the second straight year and will face No. 6 Randolph-Macon College (25-4), a 62-59 overtime winner over Alvernia University in tonight's earlier first round game.
Medgar Evers (17-12), in its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance, battled with St. Mary's in the first half as the stanza featured five ties and nine lead changes. Early on, the Cougars owned a 10-7 lead at the 14:53 mark on sophomore forward Winston Douglas' (Hempstead, N.Y./Uniondale) dunk. From there, the Seahawks went on an 11-2 run to stake a 20-12 lead at the 10:10 mark on a layup by sophomore forward Jeff Haus (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny).
Douglas connected on the Cougars' first field goal in nearly five minutes and sophomore Jarrel Deare (Brooklyn, N.Y./Mt. Zion Christian Academy) scored six straight points to draw his team to within 27-26 at the 4:20 mark, forcing the Seahawks to call a 30-second timeout. Following the timeout, junior guard James Gilmore (Brooklyn, N.Y./Boys & Girls) made a pair of free throws to assume a 30-29 edge for Medgar Evers at the 3:50 mark.
The Seahawks used a 6-0 run to regain the lead and make it 35-30 in their favor at the 1:26 mark but only headed into the locker room with a 36-35 advantage.
Medgar Evers flirted with the lead in the opening minutes of the second half, eventually claiming a 44-42 the lead at the 14:25 mark on a layup by sophomore forward Donnell Lazare (Brooklyn, N.Y./boys & girls). St. Mary's put the game to rest after that point, ripping a 21-0 run to boast a 63-44 margin and holding the Cougars scoreless for a span of 9:04.
Senior center Sam Burum (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) led four Seahawks in double figures with 14 points while senior guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) finished with a near double-double on 10 points and team-best nine rebounds. Junior Mikey Fitzpatrick (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) and first-year center Christian MacAuley (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) added 12 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench.
Junior forward Robert Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Boys & Girls) paced Medgar Evers with 12 points while Gilmore finished with his 11 first-half points after being shutdown in the second half.
St. Mary's, making its third NCAA Tournament appearance, improves to 5-2 all-time in tournament contests. The Seahawks are also a perfect 14-0 at home this season.