The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team dropped a tough 72-69 decision to visiting Frostburg State University on Wednesday night in both teams' Capital Athletic Conference opener at the Anderson Center. Senior Taylor Johnson led the Eagles with 16 points and 12 rebounds in gaining his fourth double-double of the season.
The Eagles came out strong on offense, building an early 12-6 lead, thanks to five points each from Johnson and John Lutkenhaus. The Bobcats reclaimed the lead at 18-16 with 12:12 left in the half, and slowly upped the lead to 10 at intermission by netting the last four points of the frame.
In the second, Frostburg started with a 14-4 run to up the lead to 20, at 57-37, with 12:45 remaining. FSU led, 67-47, with 6:53 left, but then the Eagles responded in a big way. Johnson, Ryan Greer, and Lutkenhaus all hit three pointers as UMW trimmed the deficit to 12 at 69-57 with 3:51 to play, and after a pair of Bobcat free throws, UMW scored 10 straight to cut the deficit to just four, 71-67, with just over one minute remaining.
A pair of Eagle misses at the line and a missed jumper and a pair of misses by the Bobcats at the line kept the score stranded at 71-67, until FSU's Jerel Carter made a free throw with seven seconds left. A Johnson layup in the final seconds cut the deficit to 72-69, but after FSU missed at the line twice, the Eagles' last-second shot from beyond half curt missed.
Johnson scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for UMW, while Lutkenhaus and freshman Eric Shaw each added 15 points, with Shaw grabbing seven rebounds and blocking a pair of shots. Taylor Michael had 16 to lead Frostburg.
The Eagles shot 44.6% from the field (25-56), making 5 three pointers, and went 14-23 from the free throw line. Frostburg went 27-60 from the field (45%), making five three pointers and went 13-28 from the line. Frostburg held a 42-37 rebounding lead, and both teams committed 20 turnovers.
The Eagles will return to action on Saturday when they visit York College of Pa in a CAC game starting at 3 p.m.