Box Score
St. Mary's City, Md. – You would have never guessed that No. 11 St. Mary's College of Maryland had not played since last Saturday as the Seahawks came out firing on all cylinders, posting a convincing 96-77 victory over No. 7 Franklin & Marshall College Saturday afternoon. Four players finished in double figures for the Seahawks, led by senior captain Alex Franz's (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) game-high 21.
Along with 21 points, Franz added game-best six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Senior center Sam Burum (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) was near perfect with a 6-of-7 effort from the floor for 16 points and five boards while junior forward Mikey Fitzpatrick (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) contributed 15 points.
There were five lead changes in the first five minutes of the game before the Seahawks (3-1) put together a 25-12 run spanning a nearly 8-minute block to put St. Mary's in the driver's seat and give them the lead for good. The Seahawks continued to pound the ball inside and led by as many as 31 en route to a 60-31 halftime lead.
Franz led all players with 15 first-half points as he shot 57%, including 2-of-3 from downtown. Burum was also in double digits with 10 on 4-of-5 shooting.
In the second half, Franklin & Marshall (3-1) did not get any closer than 18 the entire half. The Seahawks sharpshooting was on point, connecting on 8-of-15 from beyond the 3-point arc as the team finished the game shooting 58.9% from the floor.
St. Mary's received a huge lift from its bench as the bench outscored the Diplomats' reserve 35 to 7. Senior forward Kyle Jarczynski (Bel Air, Md./Calvert Hall) chipped in 10 points to lead the way.
Today's contest was a rematch of last year's NCAA Sweet Sixteen match-up in which Franklin & Marshall came out on top by a 92-87 margin behind game-high 27 points from senior forward James McNally (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan). McNally was a non-factor for the Diplomats today as he only had four first-half points to finish with 16 and nearly fouled out.
Junior guard Georgio Milligan (Spring Valley, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep) tallied team-best 18 points while sophomore Brandon Beckford (Hackensack, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) and senior forward Mike Baker (Maryland Heights, Mo./Whitfield School) had 15 and 12, respectively, for F&M.
The Seahawks will return to action Wednesday, December 1 when St. Mary's welcomes Christopher Newport University to the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena for non-conference action at 7:00 pm.
