Led by Ben Stewart’s 10 first-half points, St. Mary’s took a 40-35 lead into the locker room on the strength of a 10-2 run. Stewart finished the game with a team-high 17 points.
The Terror spent the first ten-minutes of the second period chipping away at the Seahawks lead before finally claiming the advantage with 9:40 left in regulation when Will Talesnick hit a three to make it 53-51 in McDaniel’s favor. McDaniel stretched the lead to five, but watched it evaporate with a St. Mary’s 7-1 run.
The Seahwaks stretched the lead to five again. That’s when Sam Anstead, D.J. Hynes, and Chris Rutland took over for the Terror. Rutland cut the lead to three with 2:35 left in the game before a Hynes steal pointed the possession arrow in McDaniel’s favor. Hynes pushed the ball up the floor to Rutland, who dished it off to Anstead for an easy lay-up to get within one. Hynes boosted the ball again on the next St. Mary’s possession and was hacked on his way to the basket. Hynes hit the front end of the double bonus to draw the teams even at 65 apiece with 1:25 left in the game.
Hynes’ second shot rimmed out into the hands of Rutland, who dropped in a lay-up to give McDaniel a two-point lead. The Seahawks missed an opportunity to tie the game when Ryan Carr only connected on one of his pair of shots earned when Kyle O’Connor sent him to the line. Anstead nailed a pair of free throws at the other end to ice St. Mary’s.
Anstead finished with a game-high of 19 points. Rutland and Hynes each established new career bests in rebounds. Rutland grabbed 13 boards to go with his nine points, while Hynes pulled down 11. Hynes also established a new career mark in assists with six, and tied his career best with three steals. Sean McNeely finished the game with eight points having hit on four of five field goals in the first half before going cold in the second.
St. Mary’s saw three players in double figures. In addition to Stewart’s 17, the Seahwaks got 13 points from Dan Engelstad and 10 from John Dewey. No one on St. Mary’s managed more than T.J. Jordan’s 6. McDaniel outworked St. Mary’s on the glass by a 54-39 margin.
With the win, McDaniel halts a five game skid to improve to 2-5. St. Mary’s falls to 3-4 on the season. McDaniel is idle next week during exams, but will return to the floor on December 20th when the Terror hosts Catholic University.