The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team picked up a crucial CAC win, 87-73, over Southern Virginia on Wednesday evening in the Ron Rosner Arena. With the win, the Eagles improve to 9-8 in CAC play to take control of third place with one game left in the regular season. Eric Shaw poured in 25 points and grabbed 15 boards. TJ Jones dropped 25 of his own and pulled in 10 boards.
In the first half, Southern Virginia jumped out to an early 10 point lead, up 18-8 at the 13:51 mark. The Eagles and Knights traded buckets until John Lutkenhaus nailed a three pointer to give the Eagles a 34-33 lead with just under three minutes remaining in the half. Southern Virginia
responded with an old fashioned three to take back the lead. The Eagles answered with a three and free throw from Jones, two free throws from Shaw, and a layup from Brent Mahoney to take the lead, up 42-36 at the break.
The Eagles came out hot to start the second, using a 12-2 run to increase their lead to 14, at 54-40. Mark Madison and Shaw combined to score all 12 points in the run. After UMW extended their lead to 16, their largest of the game, Southern Virginia knocked down some outside shots to cut
the deficit to as little as five with five minutes remaining in the contest. Jones, Shaw and Madison combined for 9-12 shooting at the charity stripe in the final three minutes to secure the victory at 87-73.
Shaw scored 25 on 9-16 shooting, making 7-7 free throws and throwing down a handful of dunks. Shaw also led the Eagles with 15 boards and three blocks. Jones recorded a double-double as well, with 25 points on 7-14 shooting, with a season-high 10 boards. Madison scored all of his 17 points in the second half on 4-9 shooting, going 3-7 from the three.
Mary Washington shot 49.2% from the field (29-59), making 8-23 three pointers and 21-29 free throws. Southern Virginia shot 38.9% from the field (28-72), making 8-21 three pointers and 9-13 free throws. The Eagles led the Knights in rebounds, 45-38.
The Eagles are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they visit Penn State-Harrisburg at 3:00 pm for their final game of the regular season.