The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team used a big second half to defeat Salisbury University, 88-82, on Saturday afternoon in Salisbury, MD. The Eagles outscored the Seagulls 48-33 in the second half to help secure the win. This victory snaps a 10 game losing streak to Salisbury. The Eagles improve to 14-5 overall, and 8-4 in the CAC.
A high scoring first half, started out with the Eagles jumping ahead 4-0 just 1:21 into the game on a layup from Eric Shaw and a jump shot from A.J. Robinson. The Seagulls then responded on a 7-0 run over the next 2:25 and took the lead 7-4. Shaw put an end to that run with a layup, but Salisbury went on to score 10 straight and they were up 17-6 with 14:49 left in the half.
The Eagles then went on a 7-0 run as Khiorie Stewart hit a three-pointer and a jumper to bring the score to 17-13 with 13:06 remaining. The game of runs continued as Salisbury scored the next seven to push the lead to 24-13 with 12:29 left.
UMW clawed back into the game and with 9:27 remaining in the half, Mark Madison knocked down a three-pointer to bring the Eagles within five, 30-25. Salisbury pushed the lead back to 10, 35-25, with 8:32 left. Madison knocked down two free throws with 6:45 left to bring it within seven, 35-28. From there, the Seagulls went on an 8-0 run and they went up 15, 43-28, with 5:06 remaining in the half.
Drew Johnson made a three-pointer to cut it to 12, 43-31, with 4:41 left. Johnny Cronin ended the scoring for the first half as he made a layup with 53 seconds left and the Eagles went into halftime down 49-40. Johnson went 3-4 from three-point range in the first half to lead the Eagles with nine points.
The Eagles started out the second half by going on a mini 5-2 run over the first 1:24 to cut the lead to 51-45. UMW didn't stop there as they managed to go on a 9-2 run over the next 4:02 and took the lead 54-53 with 14:34 to play. The Seagulls took the lead back, 57-55, with 13:29 left.
Stewart knocked down a three-pointer to get the lead back, 60-57, with 12:39 remaining. The Eagles stretched the lead out to nine, 68-59, over the next 3:05 as Johnson knocked down another three-pointer. Salisbury cut it to six, 73-67, with 4:28 to play in the game. Shaw made a jumper and then a three-pointer with 3 minutes left in the game to push the lead to 10, 80-70.
Salisbury again cut it to five with 1:23 to play, but a free throw from Jacob Williams and two free throws from Johnson put the Eagles back up eight, 83-75, with 45 seconds left. Salisbury got it to within four, 86-82, with just nine-seconds left but they had to foul and Shaw knocked down two free throws and the Eagles secured the victory 88-82.
Shaw led the Eagles with 24 points and Johnson went 7-10 from three-point range to finish with 23 points and seven rebounds. Cronin went 5-5 from the field and scored 12 points while Stewart netted 10 points. The Seagulls were led by Chad Barcikowski who scored a game-high 31 points.
The Eagles shot 60% (27-45) from the field, making 13-26 three-pointers, and 21-28 free throws. The Seagulls shot 45.6% (31-68) from the field, making 10-30 three-pointers, and 10-13 free throws. UMW dished out 18 assists and recorded seven steals.
UMW will be back in action on Wednesday night as they will travel to St. Mary's for a tip-off set at 8 p.m.