SALISBURY, Md. – A back-and-forth overtime battle to open the 2022-23 season for the Salisbury University men's basketball team went against the Sea Gulls as the Eastern Eagles prevailed in overtime, 87-79.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ryan Marshall scored the first points of the year for Salisbury in the first possession of the game with a driving layup under the basket.
• After trading baskets for the next few minutes, Eastern went on a 10-0 run that gave the Eagles a 16-6 lead with just over 14 minutes left in the first half.
• The Sea Gulls battled back and tied the game at 23 after David Kokora grabbed an offensive board and threw it down with 7:49 to go in the period.
• The teams went back-and-forth again and with the game tied at 28 with just under three minutes left, Salisbury went on a 9-0 run capped off by a Greg Bloodsworth jumper to close out the half with the Sea Gulls up 37-28.
• The Sea Gulls maintained the momentum to start the second half and after a Bloodsworth three-pointer, were up by 46-33 with 16 minutes left.
• The Eagles did not back down and found themselves within one point of Salisbury, 51-50, after Kaeshawn Ward made a fast break layup with 11:20 on the clock.
• Salisbury responded with its second 9-0 run of the game highlighted by three baskets from Brandon Craig.
• Eastern began to chip away at the lead for the next several minutes, and with three minutes to go, Ward made a three-pointer to retake the lead, 72-71, for the Eagles.
• A few possessions later, Bloodsworth drilled back-to-back jumpers to put Salisbury up 77-74 with just over a minute to play.
• Sam Gallardo tied the game up with a deep ball with 42 seconds left in regulation. The Sea Gulls had a shot attempt with 22 seconds left, but came up short and the game went into overtime.
• Eastern used the momentum in the overtime period, and outscored Salisbury, 10-2, to give the game it's final score of 87-79.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Salisbury shot 51.3 percent (33-for-64) from the field.
• Greg Bloodsworth led the Sea Gulls with a career-high 25 points on 12-for-23 shooting. He also grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists.
• Brandon Craig scored 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting and grabbed a team-high eight boards.
• Ryan Marshall and Cameron Heard each scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds.

EASTERN GAME NOTES

• Eastern shot 55 percent (33-for-60) from the field, including 47 percent (8-for-17) from deep.
• Kaeshawn Ward led the Eagles with 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting, including 3-for4 from deep.
• Zubair Lee scored 20 points off the bench on 7-for-10 shooting.

UP NEXT

• Salisbury will host No. 10 Johns Hopkins on Saturday, Nov. 12.
• Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. in Maggs PAC.