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St. Mary's City, Md. - The 18th-ranked St.
Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team did a
180â—¦ in the second half and overcame
an eight-point deficit to notch their third win of the season over
Hood College Saturday afternoon, posting a 63-48 Capital Athletic
Conference victory.
With 19:18 left in the game, the No. 18 Seahawks (18-3, 10-2
CAC) put together two big runs to place themselves in the driver's
seat and knock the wind out of Hood's upset bid. The first
run of 16-8, bookended by a pair of three-pointers from guards
Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) and
Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons),
knotted the contest for the sixth time at 36-all (12:08).
The run that sealed the victory for St. Mary's was an 18-6 run,
again sparked and capped by Franz and
Griffin, that gave the Seahawks their first lead
of the second half as well as helped them pull away from Hood,
leading 52-40 at 4:52. St. Mary's quick offensive tempo and
strong defensive pressure was too much for the Blazers (14-10, 9-6
CAC) to overcome in the final five minutes as the Seahawks cruised
to their 15-point victory.
The reigning CAC Player of the Week, Griffin
finished with a game-high 23 points, connecting on 4-of-7 from
downtown, while Franz added 19 points with
three-pointers and six assists. Sophomore forward
Brian Grashof (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West)
hauled in a career-high eight boards to pace the Seahawks on the
glass.
Tonight's win extended St. Mary's regular-season home game win
streak to 17 straight victories at the ARC Arena. The
Seahawks' last regular-season home loss was a 72-70 setback to
Marymount (Va.) University on January 30, 2008.
St. Mary's came out cold in the first half and Hood completely
took advantage, tallying a 24-18 lead at intermission. The
Seahawks made only 4-of-19 from the floor while committing 13
turnovers which gave the Blazers 11 points. Hood also picked
12 points in the paint compared to four from the home team.
Junior center Tyler Snoots (Frederick, Md./Gov.
Thomas Johnson) was the only Blazer to break double figures with 10
points while sophomores Brenden Straughn (New
Carrollton, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) and Tory Wilson
(Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) each pulled down seven caroms.
The Seahawks will look to extend their home win streak to 18
consecutive next Tuesday, February 16 when St. Mary's welcomes
Wesley College to the Arena for a conference match-up at 8:00
pm. The Seahawks recorded an 81-74 victory at Wesley on
January 9 behind 27 points from Griffin.
