SALISBURY, Md. – Big days from Reed Rebstock and Jordan Oates helped guide the Salisbury University men's basketball team to its eighth victory of the season, defeating the Widener University Pride by an 82-68 final in Maggs Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
The Sea Gulls (8-3) received outsized contributions from the duo of Oates and Rebstock early, with the pair providing the first 12 Sea Gull points of the contest in a 12-2 blitz across the first four minutes. The Pride (2-6) parried with nine of the next 11 points to yank the battle back within three, 14-11.
Salisbury and Widener traded five-point swings across a two-minute span to hold the three-point margin at the halfway point, 19-16. A near-even split of the following minutes was ended by pairs of baskets from Tyler Ball and Rebstock, igniting an 11-4 run and inflating the SU lead to double-digits, 38-27.
The guests narrowly outpaced SU in the first half's final minutes, 8-6, to reduce the lead to nine at the break, 44-35.
Rebstock maintained his hot start in the second half, burying a jumper and two treys to guide SU in a 10-0 swing. Kedrick Frink took a step into the spotlight from there, finding nylon on three consecutive tries to give the Sea Gulls 16 of the period's first 20 points and a 60-39 advantage with just over 15 minutes remaining.
Widener absorbed the blow and delivered their own in response, nabbing 10 of 14 across five and a half minutes to cut the margin to 15. Salisbury kept the Pride at bay across the next five minutes, scoring 12 to their 11 to lead 76-60 with just over five minutes left.
A near-three-minute scoring drought ended with an Oates layup as the Sea Gulls stacked six against Widener's eight in the closing minutes, leaving Maggs Gymnasium with the 82-68 victory.
GAME NOTES
- Jordan Oates secured his second 20-20 game of the campaign and the third of his Sea Gull career, dropping 21 points on 57.1 percent shooting while chasing down 20 rebounds and adding a trio of assists and two steals.
- Oates ranks third nationally in double-doubles after earning his seventh and sits comfortably among the top 10 rebounders in Division III across all categories. He also jumped to 16th in program history in career points (1,226) on Saturday, passing Casey Musick '96, and moved inside the top five in career blocks (83) to surpass Segun Odumeru '07.
- Reed Rebstock matched his season-high with 23 points, making eight of his 13 tries from the floor including a crisp 7-of-11 clip from beyond the arc.
- Brendan Davis finished with 11 points on an efficient 5-of-6 night while dishing out a season-high eight helpers in the win.
- Salisbury shot 51.7 percent (31-of-60) from the field, 40 percent (12-of-30) from range and 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the stripe.
- The Sea Gulls are off to their best start yet under head coach Maurice "Mo" Williams, boasting an 8-3 record through 11 games for the best beginning to a campaign since the team began the year 10-1 in 2018-19.
The Sea Gulls can stay comfortable on their home floor, facing the Notre Dame (Md.) Gators for the second time this season on Wednesday, Dec. 18th inside Maggs Gymnasium. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. with tickets available for purchase online.