Sophomore forward Ozi Menakaya pulled down a season high 21 rebounds and added 11 points to lead the Gulls while fellow sophomore Devin Jones registered a game-high 22 points.
The first half was back and forth as the scoreboard saw seven ties and five lead changes. The Sea Gulls (9-4, CAC 4-0) looked as if they would take a two-point lead into the intermission, but UMW’s Mike Lee hit a 23-foot floater at the buzzer to give the Eagles a 30-29 advantage at the break.
Salisbury dominated the early stages of the second half as it built up as large as a 14-point lead after Jones hit one of his three, three-point field goals on the night with 9:09 left in the game.
The Eagles (9-3, 3-1 CAC) would mount a comeback over the next four minutes as they outscored the Sea Gulls, 18-4, to tie the game up for the eighth time at 60. UMW's Justin Baker, A.J. Fitzgerald and Lee all hit three-pointers before Jon Pierce tied up the game with one of his two three's with 5:27 left.
The Sea Gulls quickly answered the Eagles' run as Gary Ward (eight points) knocked down a long distance bucket and Menakaya connected on both of his free throw attempts to give SU a 65-60 lead.
The score would be tied one more time as Pierce hit his second three-pointer and Baker's made a lay up off a steal by Lee.
SU responded one final time as Segun Odumeru and Jones both hit on 3-of-4 foul shots in the final minute and a half to put the game out of reach and give the Gulls the five-point win.
Odumeru finished with 10 points and Ray Williams tallied 13 points to help the Gulls.
The Sea Gulls will next play on the road against Capital Athletic Conference opponent St. Mary's College (Md.) on Saturday, January 13 at 4 p.m.