BALTIMORE – Senior captain Jake Koverman (Severna Park, Md./Southern) and first-year guard Korey Blair (Baltimore, Md./Overlea) combined for 49 points Wednesday night (Feb. 4) to lead the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's basketball team in United East Conference action.
 
St. Mary's College (8-12, 4-6 UEC) dropped a heartbreaking 76-75 decision to second-place Notre Dame of Maryland University (15-8, 9-2 UEC) as Marlon Lewis scored the Gators' final six points of the game, including sinking a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds left in regulation.
 
The loss puts the Seahawks into a two-way tie with Wilson College (8-14, 4-6 UEC) for seventh place. However, SMCM holds the tiebreaker over Wilson as they picked up a 70-60 victory at Wilson on Jan. 13.
 
How It Happened

• Notre Dame controlled the first half as the Gators owned the lead for 18:08. St. Mary's College held an 11-8 edge at 13:18 following six straight points from Koverman, who scored nine of the team's first 11.
• NDMU broke open a two-point margin with a 9-0 run over a two-minute span to claim a 35-24 advantage with 1:09 remaining in the first half. Buckets by first-year forward Tristan Thompson (Urbana, Md./Urbana) and junior guard Ben Kobil (Washington, D.C./Jackson-Reed) sent the Seahawks into the locker room with a six-point deficit (35-29).
• Back-to-back three-pointers by Blair at the start of the second half sparked a 25-12 run that put SMCM on top, 54-47, at 10:58. A minute later, Notre Dame responded by closing the gap to one on a layup by Anthony Wright.
• Blair struck again with another triple to fire up St. Mary's College and rebuild an eight-point margin (74-66) at 2:54. Blair connected on three three-point shots during the team's 20-13 push.
• A 7-1 spurt by NDMU and three Seahawk turnovers during a 75-second span allowed the Gators to trim the deficit to 75-73 with 1:14 left in the game, setting up for Lewis' heroics.

 
Inside the Box Score

• SMCM posted a season-high .889-three-point field goal percentage (12-21), including knocking down eight triples over the final 20 minutes.
• For the game, St. Mary's College shot 44.9-percent (22-49) from the field and went 19-of-30 (.633) at the free throw line.
• Notre Dame edged the visitors, 40-39, in rebounding while notching a 40-20 margin in paint scoring.

 
St. Mary's College Game Notes

• Koverman tallied a game- and career-best 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-6 from downtown, while grabbing a game-high nine rebounds and handing out two assists.
• Blair scored a career-best 21 points for the third time this season as he drained seven triples. He also hauled in a career-high seven caroms and dished out three dimes.

Notre Dame Game Notes

• Four Gators scored in double digits with Lewis leading the way with 21 points and eight boards in Notre Dame's third straight win.

 
Up Next for the Seahawks

• Feb. 7 at Valley Forge (7-14, 3-8 UEC) – Phoenixville, Pa. (The Pit) – 1 pm

 
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