The Salisbury University men's basketball team jumped out to a 43-30 halftime lead, and held on for a 76-68 victory over the University of Mary Washington on Saturday afternoon in Salisbury, Md. The Eagles fall to 11-10 overall, and 7-7 in Capital Athletic Conference action.
The early minutes proved to be a back and forth effort, with two ties and two lead changes in the first six minutes of play. UMW took the lead at 11-9 with 13:35 left on a pair of Eric Shaw free throws, but Salisbury vaulted ahead with three straight three pointers to take an 18-11 advantage.
The Eagles closed the margin to six, at 25-19, with 7:46 left on the clock, and a John Lutkenhaus three pointer and Mark Madison layup cut the margin to five, at 33-28, with 2:29 remaining. From there, Salisbury closed the half on fire, upping the margin to 13 with a 10-2 run to grab a 43-30 lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Eagles hit three straight baskets to open play, quickly trimming the deficit to 43-35. Nine straight Eagle points, including four from Shaw and three from TJ Jones, trimmed the deficit to just two, at 46-44, with 12:52 left.
A Brent Mahoney three point play with 11:10 left cut the deficit to one, and the Eagles were able to tie the score at 50-50 with 9:47 to go on a Matt Forrest three pointer. A layup from Madison with 8:28 left gave the Eagles their first lead since very early in the contest, and three pointers from Forrest and Jones kept the Eagles in front.
The game remained tight until the waning minutes, as Salisbury outscored the Eagles, 13-5, down the stretch, including a 10-12 effort from the free throw line.
Shaw led the Eagles with 19 points on 7-12 shooting, while Jones scored 16 and Madison 15. Shaw and Lutkenhaus tied for top honors with 10 rebounds apiece.
The Eagles shot 48% from the floor (24-50), making 7-17 three pointers and 13-19 free throws. Salisbury shot 39% (23-59), making 11-28 three pointers and 19-24 free throws. Salisbury led in rebounds, 36-31.
Mary Washington will be back in action again on Wednesday night when they visit #6 Christopher Newport University at 7:30 p.m. in a key CAC contest.