SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University men's basketball team tied its win total from a season ago on Thursday evening in Maggs Gymnasium, earning a 70-63 win over Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) foe UC Santa Cruz to improve to 14-5 on the season.
The Sea Gulls raced out to a 7-0 start, using a Reed Rebstock three-ball and baskets from Brendan Davis and Kedrick Frink to build the early lead. Jordan Oates responded to a Santa Cruz make from range with one of his own, pushing the lead back to seven through three minutes.
The Banana Slugs (10-10) caught fire in the ensuing minutes, scoring 10 of the next 11 to nab their first lead of the contest, 13-11. Salisbury retaliated with a mammoth 15-2 run led by 10 combined points from Frink and Davis, laying out a 26-15 advantage with just under nine minutes to play in the half.
The West Coasters again found a rhythm, scoring six straight to power a 10-2 run spanning the next three minutes that whittled Salisbury's lead down to just three, 28-25. SU controlled the opening period's final five minutes, scoring nine of the final 11 points in the half to lead by double-digits at the break, 37-27.
SU tallied the first four points of the second stanza at the stripe before the Banana Slugs again surged back, slicing a 12-point deficit into just two with a 16-4 run spanning nearly six minutes. The Sea Gull shots began to find nylon, but Santa Cruz parried every blow before a critical three tied the contest with under eight minutes to spare, 57-57.
After a twofer trip to the line for each side, UCSC connected from range to claim its largest advantage of the night, 62-59. The Sea Gulls played clutch defense late, as that shot with just under six and a half minutes left would be the final that fell in the contest for the Banana Slugs. Salisbury used an 11-1 swing that ensured the 70-63 victory.
GAME NOTES
- Kedrick Frink led the Sea Gulls with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and went a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line, tallying his fifth game with six or more makes from the floor in 2024-25.
- Brendan Davis stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, eight assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals in the win. Davis has piled up 39 points and 23 assists in his last three outings.
- Jordan Oates added 13 points with a trifecta of three-pointers while collecting a team-high seven rebounds. Oates became the program's second-leading offensive rebounder all-time in the win, passing Kevin Cromer '93 with his 311th career offensive rebound, and also passed Chad Barcikowski '18 to move to eighth in program history in career three-pointers made (165).
- Leon Elung tallied 11 points and added five boards on the night. The transfer acquisition has found a new groove of late, totaling 31 points and 12 rebounds in his last two contests.
- The Sea Gulls shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the floor, 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from beyond the arc and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the free throw line in the win.
- With Thursday's win, Salisbury tied its win total from last season with six games to spare in the regular season.
The Sea Gulls prepare to host Regent University on Saturday, Feb. 1st for the team's second annual Fight for Ferguson and Alumni Game, set to tip off at 3 p.m. inside Maggs Gymnasium. For more information, click here.