The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team dropped an 89-80 decision at St. Mary's College in both teams' regular season finale on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles fall to 13-12 overall and 6-6 in Capital Athletic Conference play.
The game remained tight in the early going, but the Seahawks jumped ahead, 20-8, with 8:53 remaining in the half. An Antonio Ortega free throw with 8:10 remaining made the score 23-11, and then the Eagles made four straight three-point baskets to cut the deficit to two at 25-23 with 6:04 remaining.
The Eagles trailed by four with 45 seconds left, but junior Bradley Riester made a layup with 14 seconds left, and freshman lamonte Fields hit a half-court three at the buzzer to give UMW a 37-36 halftime advantage.
In the second half, the lead changed hands five times before the Seahawks went on a run to lead, 53-44, with 13:38 left. A three pointer and layup from ortega and another from junior E.J. Willis, and the deficit was back to two, at 53-51 with 12:14 to go.
The Eagles regained the lead at 57-56 on a three pointer by Taylor Johnson with 9:45 remaining. Then the game turned up another notch competitively, as the lead changed hands 11 times in the next five minutes.
The Seahawks grew the lead to four on several occasions in the final minutes, but the eagles were able to close the gap to two at 78-76 with 1:03 remaining. The Seahawks then hit a big three pointer and connected on six free throws the rest of the way for the nine-point win.
UMW shot 52% from the floor (25-48) with 13 three pointers, while the Seahawks shot 52% (29-55) with 10 three pointers. The Seahawks held a 27-25 edge in rebounding. The eagles committed a season-high 27 turnovers.
The Eagles were led by Sean Armstrong's 22 points, while Riester added 20Junior E.J. Willis had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles, while Fields scored 10 off the bench.
Mary Washington will return to action on Tuesday when they host Frostburg State University in the first round of the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament. Tipoff form the Anderson Center is set for 7 p.m.