Arlington, Va. – Four of the five Seahawk starters scored in double digits as the No. 12 St. Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team notched a 74-64 Capital Athletic Conference win over Marymount (Va.) University, sweeping the season series with the Saints.
Sophomore guard Nick LaGuerre (Baltimore, Md./Lansdowne) headlined St. Mary's scoring quartet with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals while senior guard Devin Spencer (Baltimore, Md./Towson Catholic) contributed 14 points and three assists.
Junior guard Brendan McFall (Poolesville, Md./Poolesville) followed suit with 13 points and three boards while fellow classmate Donn Hill (Aberdeen, Md./Bel Air) chipped in a dozen points, five caroms, three assists, two steals and one block. Sophomore center MacGyver Biniak (Elkridge, Md./Howard) grabbed a game-best seven rebounds and added seven points.
Eight consecutive points by the Seahawks (21-2, 9-1 CAC) in a one-minute span returned the score back in the favor of St. Mary's, giving them a 21-15 advantage with 7:29 left to play in the first half. Back-to-back layups by Hill pushed the team's lead to 12 with less than three minutes until halftime.
Marymount made the most of the final 2:42, scoring 10 straight points, including a three-pointer with two ticks on the clock, to cut the Seahawks' halftime advantage to 38-36. St. Mary's missed three field goals and committed one turnover during the Saints' run.
MU's junior forward Reed Scott (Ellicott City, Md.) led all scorers at intermission with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting while Hill was the Seahawks' leading scorer with nine first-half points. It was a close battle in the first 20 minutes as the Saints edged St. Mary's in shooting, 52.2% to 48.4%.
St. Mary's used a 5-0 start to the second half to increase its lead to seven before an eight-point swing allowed the Saints to reclaim a one-point lead at 16:06 on a first-year guard Colin Burkhart (Cromwell, Conn.) three-pointer. The Seahawks responded with a 24-12 run to not only retake the lead for good, but to stake a 67-56 margin on senior forward Jeff Haus' (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) tip-in at 3:56.
The Seahawk defense stymied Scott in the second half, holding him to just two points in the final 20 minutes as he finished with game-highs of 18 points and seven boards, while Burkhart ended with 13 points.
St. Mary's will be back in action on Wednesday, February 13 when the Seahawks travel to the Eastern Shore to take on Salisbury University in conference action at 7:30 pm.
Facebook: http://facebook.com/StMarysAthletics
Twitter: http://twitter.com/smcseahawks, #SeahawkNation