For Immediate Release · By Nairem Moran · nmoran@smcm.edu

Buena Vista, Va. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team saw their fourth win of the season slip away in the final three minutes and a half as the host Southern Virginia University Knights rallied from nine points down to post a 72-70 Capital Athletic Conference victory. The two-point triumph completed Southern Virginia's season sweep of the Seahawks as SVU picked up a 78-61 road win on January 3.

• Score: St. Mary's 70, Southern Virginia 72
• Records: St. Mary's (3-20, 2-14 CAC), Southern Virginia (10-13, 5-11 CAC)
• Location: Buena Vista, Va. – Knight Sports Arena

How It Happened

• Southern Virginia rolled out to a 10-4 lead behind two buckets each from Justin Prisbrey and Aaron Rumbaugh. The Seahawks shook off the long bus ride and responded by outscoring SVU 35-22 over the final 16 minutes of the first half.
• Seniors Chris Craft, Jr. (Waldorf, Md./Westlake) and Ochae Bynum (Waldorf, Md./North Point) and sophomore guard Matt Ayoub (Fairfax, Va./W.T. Woodson) combined for 20 points during the stretch while the team shot 62.5% (15-of-24) with only four turnovers during the run en route to a 39-32 halftime lead.
• Rumbaugh led all scorers at the break with 10 points while Craft paced the Seahawks with eight points as the bench produced 24 of St. Mary's 39 first-half points.
• The Knights had another hot start, putting together a 10-0 push to reclaim the lead early in the second half. For the next three minutes, the two sides traded leads before the Seahawks went on a 12-1 to stake a 59-49 advantage on a Craft jumper at 9:47.
• St. Mary's kept the hosts at bay for the next six minutes but after Ayoub put his team up by nine at 3:31, SVU turned up the defense, holding the Seahawks to just one point and no field goals plus forcing four turnovers while the Knights strung together a 12-1 run to capture the season sweep.

Inside the Box Score

• St. Mary's controlled the majority of the game, owning the lead for just over 27 minutes, and tallied 24 points off of 15 Knight turnovers with 10 steals. The Seahawks shot 49.0% (25-51) from the field, including knocking down 10-of-20 three-pointers. Today's 10 triples was the second-highest total of the season.
• Ayoub finished the afternoon with a team-best 18 points, including 12 in the second half, and two rebounds while Bynum contributed 11 and a season-high four steals.
• The St. Mary's bench notched 40 points as Craft led the way with 10 on 4-of-4 shooting and 2-of-2 at the line.
• Rumbaugh tallied 10 in each half for a game-best 20 points while Cale Thornton added 19 and a game-high nine rebounds to lead the Knights to a 32-23 rebounding margin for the game.

Up Next for the Seahawks

• Feb. 14 at #7 York College of Pennsylvania (20-4, 13-3 CAC) – York, Pa. – CAC game – 8:00 p.m. 

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