Box
Score
Hampden-Sydney, Va. - Junior guard Alex
Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) registered a
double-double in helping the No. 25 St. Mary's College of Maryland
men's basketball team overcome a second-half 12-point deficit for a
70-69 triumph over host Hampden-Sydney College Wednesday afternoon
in the championship game of The Car Coop/Weenie Miller Memorial
Holiday Hoops.
Franz, who fired in the game-winning
three-pointer, was named the tournament MVP after tallying
season-highs of 21 points, 10 rebounds, and seven steals, finishing
the two-day tournament with 37 points, 16 boards, and 12
steals. Joining Franz on the All-Tournament
Team was senior guard Camontae Griffin (Baltimore,
Md./Dunbar), who added 18 points in this afternoon's championship
win.
Hampden-Sydney (5-5) opened up the second half with a pair of
free throws from junior forward Colin O'Neill
(Fort Leavenworth, Kans./Leavenworth) at 19:41 to stake its first
lead of the final 20 minutes. The Tigers stretched their lead
to 61-49 with 8:22 remaining in the game. In the middle of
the home team's 25-13 run, St. Mary's boasted a brief three-point
lead (49-46) at 13:59 behind five points from
Franz.
The Seahawks (10-2) slowly and steadily battled back in the
final eight minutes as a Griffin jumper at 7:40
sparked an 18-7 run which pulled St. Mary's within 68-67 with 1:11
remaining in regulation. After senior guard Jonathan
Mudd (Miami, Fla./American) went 1-of-2 from the free
throw line at 00:53, Franz missed his first
three-point attempt at 00:26 but Griffin hauled in
the offensive rebound, allowing the Seahawks to call a timeout at
00:20.
Following the 30-second timeout, Franz
connected on the game-winning three-pointer with 12 ticks on the
clock.
Juniors Sam Burum (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman)
and Johann Jones (Severn, Md./Meade Senior) also
finished in double digits for the Seahawks as
Burum contributed career-highs of 13 points and
three assists while Jones chipped in 10 points and
one block off the bench.
H-SC had four players in double figures as well as
O'Neill led the way with 13 points and eight
rebounds. Guards Turner King (Roanoke,
Va./Roanoke Catholic) and Harrison George
(Raleigh, N.C./Leesville) each added a dozen points while sophomore
guard Ben Jessee (Midlothian, Va./Cosby) finished
with 11.
The Seahawks owned a 36-35 halftime margin behind 14 bench
points, including eight from Jones, as neither
squad led by more than three points at any given point until the
3:47-mark when junior forward Kyle Jarczynski (Bel
Air, Md./Calvert Hall) broke a 28-28 tie with his layup at 3:28,
initiating an 8-2 spurt for a 36-30 Seahawk lead at 1:44.
Freshman guard Randall Ward (Richmond,
Va./Richmond Community) helped his H-SC squad to be down only one
point at the half with a three-pointer at 00:26.
