Frederick, Md. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team moved into a tie for first-place in the Capital Athletic Conference standings as the Seahawks tallied a 72-70 win over Hood College Saturday afternoon behind 17 points from junior guard Devin Spencer (Baltimore, Md./Towson Catholic).

The Seahawks (7-2, 3-0 CAC), who are riding a four-game win streak, are tied with the University of Mary Washington for top honors with identical overall and CAC marks.  St. Mary's will be idle for the next eight days until taking on University of Sacred Heart (P.R.) in San Juan on Sunday, December 18 at 1:00 pm in the Puerto Rico Division III Classic.

Spencer went 5-of-9 from downtown as he headlined a quartet of Seahawk players in double-digit scoring.  Sophomore guard Brendan McFall (Poolesville, Md./Poolesville) continued his strong play of late with his third consecutive double-figure point total as McFall posted a career-best 14 points.

St. Mary's needed to overcome a four-point deficit with 5:10 remaining in the first half to stake a 35-28 lead at intermission.  Spencer sparked a 15-4 run with a long-range shot at 4:21 and added another two treys, including one with eight seconds left, while junior guard Christopher Hutchinson (Owings Mills, Md./New Town) put up a layup as time expired following a Spencer steal.

Spencer tallied 12 points in the first 20 minutes to pace all players while Hood's sophomore guard Cameron Cook (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) led the Blazers (4-4, 1-3 CAC) with eight.

Senior guard Ramon Smith (Dumfries, Va./Patterson School), who finished with a game-high 29 points, dropped 22 in the second stanza as Hood outscored the Seahawks, 42-37, and twice erased double-digit deficits.

Following a 1-of-2 effort by McFall at the line, St. Mary's boasted a 51-40 margin with 13:24 left in the contest.  The Blazers used an 11-3 run to close the gap to three in under three minutes as Hood was 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.  The Seahawks responded by going 7-of-8 as well from the line and sophomore forward Christian MacAuley (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) scored five as the visitors rebuilt a 10-point lead with 6:44 remaining.

Hood went on a 14-5 tear as junior Trey Quinn's (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) layup made it 70-69 with nine ticks on the clock.  Junior forward Jeff Haus (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) gave the Seahawks a three-point lead with 3.9 seconds to go as Haus converted both free throws.  Quinn made the first of two free throws and senior forward LaVar Rich (Northumberland, Va./Northumberland) grabbed the offensive board but MacAuley blocked Rich's shot.  Hood retained possession but Smith turned the ball over to end the game.