Box
Score
Towson, Md. - No. 20 St. Mary's College of
Maryland will have the opportunity to repeat as Pride of Maryland
champions tomorrow evening as the Seahawks outlasted Salisbury
University, 78-76, in semifinal action of the Pride of Maryland
Championship presented by M&T Bank on Saturday night hosted by
Goucher College.
The Seahawks (2-0) will square off against Hood College in
tomorrow's title match-up as Hood punched its ticket with a 65-62
win over last year's runner-up, Johns Hopkins University.
Hood finished second in 2007, falling to McDaniel College by one
point in triple overtime.
Tomorrow's action will be broadcast on WBAL 11-2 digital,
Comcast 208 and Verizon 460. The game will air at 6:30 pm and
will be played at Goucher's Decker Sports and Recreation Center in
Towson.
St. Mary's erased a one-point halftime deficit with a 15-8 run
to stake a 69-62 lead with 7:01 remaining in the contest.
Salisbury's sophomore forward Mike Maczko (Bel
Air, Md./John Carroll) connected on a long range shot at 6:38,
sparking a 12-5 run to knot the game for the 12th and final time at
74-all with 2:48 left.
Senior captain Camontae Griffin (Baltimore,
Md./Dunbar) broke the tie with back-to-back jumpers, giving the
reigning champions a four-point lead with 51 seconds to go.
The Sea Gulls (1-1) pulled with two on a pair of made free throws
by senior Greg Palmer (Salisbury, Md./Salisbury
Christian) at 00:35.
The Seahawks missed two lay-ups and Maczko
picked up the defensive board with 25 ticks on the clock but
Salisbury was off the mark on its three attempts in 11 seconds,
including a three-point attempt by senior guard Devin
Jones (Severn, Md./Old Mill) as time expired.
Griffin led a group of four Seahawks in
double-digit scoring with 15 points while adding four assists and
three steals. Junior captain Alex Franz
(Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) added 14 points (on 4-of-8
shooting from downtown), six assists, four steals and three
rebounds while junior captain Mike Fitzpatrick
(Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) had a dozen points and five boards.
Junior center Sam Burum (Bethesda, Md./Walt
Whitman) followed up last night's career-night with 11 points as
Burum was a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity
stripe, helping St. Mary's go 19-of-24 from the line.
Salisbury posted a 39-38 advantage at halftime after overcoming
a 10-point setback with a 20-9 run in the final nine minutes of the
first half.
Palmer led all players with 18 points while
junior center Chris McGrew (Burtonsville,
Md./Paint Branch) contributed 15 points and a game-high nine
rebounds. Maczko also finished in
double-digits with 14 points and tied for rebounding honors with
nine as well.
