The visitors jumped out to an early 9-5 lead when junior forward Kyle Harmon knocked down a jumper. However, the Bison countered with a 15-4 run capped off with rookie guard Sekoe White’s three-pointer, giving the unit a 20-13 advantage that they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way. The hosts held a 33-27 lead heading into halftime before widening the margin to 46-35 with 14:28 remaining. That’s when the Bison began to stumble and it seemed like they might follow an all too familiar pattern.
The Sea Gulls applied heavy defensive pressure, forcing Gallaudet to cough up the ball on several occasions. Salisbury cut the deficit to just one point when sophomore center Jeremy Kincaid hit a free throw after converting a layup while being hacked. The teams would trade baskets before the Bison found their second wind and pulled away. Junior forward Frank Jackson – who finished with 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting – drained an NBA range three-pointer from the left wing to ignite a 9-0 Gallaudet run. Shortly thereafter, Bison junior guard Brendan Stern found Haney, who stroked the heartbreaking trifecta from the left corner, sending the Sea Gulls packing.
Haney also finished with game-highs of 12 rebounds and three steals, while sophomore forward Kazeem Babatunde provided a solid punch off the bench, tallying six points and five boards in 15 minutes. Sophomore forward Rico Stewart and junior guard Neal Tucker paced Salisbury with 12 points apiece, while sophomore guard and Sea Gulls leading scorer Segun Odumeru was held to just eight points after torching the Bison for 22 points in their first meeting of the season. With the victory, Gallaudet improves to 6-12 overall and 1-7 in conference play, while Salisbury drops to 8-12 and 3-6.
Gallaudet will look to avenge another league loss when they host Mary Washington on Saturday at 4 p.m.