Freshman Greg Rowson continued to impress as he scored a career-high 30 points on 9-12 shooting, including 6-9 three-pointers, to lead the University of Mary Washington men's basketball team past Virginia Wesleyan University, 99-88, in overtime on Wednesday evening. The Eagles improve to 5-2 on the season.
The first half was a back-and-forth effort as neither team led by more than five points. Rowson got the scoring started in a hurry for the Eagles as he made two free throws and knocked down a three-pointer to give them a 5-0 lead in the first 2:21 of the game. The Marlins answered as they quickly went on a 7-0 run to take a 7-5 lead. The Eagles tied the game up at 12 a piece as Mark Madison knocked down a three-pointer on an assist from Khiorie Stewart at the 13:10 mark.
Both teams played even over the next five minutes and the game was knotted at 21 as Johnny Cronin scored his first two points of the night on an assist from Da'Shawn Cook. Virginia Wesleyan garnered a four point lead 27-23 with 5:56 to play. Jacob Williams knocked down a three-pointer to put UMW down just two points, 33-31, with 2:30 remaining. The Marlins took a 38-37 advantage into halftime.
Rowson again started the scoring in the second half as he buried a three-pointer to put the Eagles on top 40-38. After the Marlins tied the game at 42, UMW went on a 6-0 run to take a 48-42 lead with 14:32 to play. Cronin added another layup with 11:07 remaining and the Eagles held a 52-49 lead. The Eagles took an eight point advantage, 57-49, as Cook knocked down a three-pointer with just under 10 minutes to play.
Virginia Wesleyan cut into the lead and with 6:42 remaining found themselves down just two points, 64-62. The Marlins regained the lead as they went on a 6-2 run to take a 68-66 lead. With the game being tied at 70, Rowson knocked down yet another three-pointer to give the Eagles a 73-70 lead with just four minutes to play. The two teams traded blows over the last four minutes, but the Eagles found themselves ahead 79-76 with just 32 seconds ledt after a Stewart free throw.
The Marlins came down and hit a jump shot to put them down just one point, 79-78, with 16 seconds remaining. Virginia Wesleyan had to foul and Rowson went to the line and calmly knocked down two free throws to put the Eagles back up three, 81-78. The Marlins knocked down a contested three-pointer with just one-second left to tie the game. Rowson had a look from 3/4 court, but the ball hit the back of the rim and we headed into overtime with the game tied at 81.
In overtime, Virginia Wesleyan took a quick three point advantage just 21 seconds in. UMW then strung together a 10-0 run that capped by a Stewart three-point play the old-fashioned way that but the Eagles up 91-84 with 2:17 remaining. UMW played excellent defense and only held the Marlins to just four points from there. A layup by Rowson, two free throws from Cook, and two more free throws from Rowson closed out the game and UMW grabbed a 99-88 win on the road.
Cronin had an excellent game putting together a 24 point, 11 rebound double-double while shooting 9-14 from the field. Cook added 18 points, and Stewart came off the bench to score 16 points.
The Eagles shot 32-65 (49.2%) from the field, 10-23 (43.5%) from three-point range, and 25-32 (78.1%) from the free throw line. UMW out-rebounded VWU 44-40, and dished out nine assists.
UMW will be back in action on Saturday as they will host an old CAC foe in Marymount at 3 p.m.