The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team fell short in Capital Athletic Conference action against Salisbury University, 81-70, on Saturday in the Ron Rosner Arena. The Eagles are now 7-6 overall, and 3-3 in league play.
In the early going, freshman point guard Mark Madison hit a baseline jumper and finished an old-fashioned three point play to give the Eagles a 5-2 lead. Salisbury responded with a 7-0 run to take the lead at 9-5, but a three pointer from junior guard TJ Jones gave the Eagles a 10-9 lead, their last of the game.
At the 10:48 mark, Salisbury built their lead to 22-12. The two teams exchanged buckets for the remainder of the half, entering the break with Salisbury leading by a score of 38-30.
In the second, the Eagles cut the lead to four on a layup from Johnny Cronin with just over 15 minutes left. Salisbury responded again to increase their lead to 11 with seven minutes remaining in the contest. UMW clawed back to cut the deficit to four on buckets from Jones, Madison, and Asa Scott.
After a UMW timeout with 4:32 left, Salisbury knocked down a triple to push the lead to seven. Free throws from Salisbury in the remaining minutes closed the game out at 81-70.
Mary Washington shot 44.1% from the field (26-59), including 4-17 from the three point line, and made 14-19 free throws. Salisbury also shot 44.1% from the field (26-59), including 8-22 from the three point line, and made 21-28 free throws.
Jones led the Eagles with 24 points, while Madison added 14.
The Eagles will be back in action on Wednesday evening at 8:00 p.m. in the Ron Rosner Arena to take on conference foe Christopher Newport.