The Saints twice built leads of 11 points in the first half and held a 42-34 advantage at the break. Marymount led by seven points, at 52-45, with 13:00 remaining in the second half, before the Shoremen went on an 18-4 run capped off by a three-pointer from junior guard Dustin Abbate with 6:05 remaining in regulation that put WAC ahead, 63-56. Marymount answered with a 13-3 spurt to grab a 69-66 lead on a three-pointer by Rodney Puente with 1:13 left in the half. A lay-up by Abbate with 51 second to go cut the lead to 69-68 and Breslin made one-of-two free throws with two seconds left in regulation to force the extra period.
Each team scored six points in the first 4:30 of overtime before Washington senior forward Buck Howanski converted a lay-up to put the Shoremen up, 77-75, with 30 seconds to go. Abbate stole the ball on the next Marymount possession, was fouled, and hit both free throws to extend the lead to 79-75 with 28 seconds left. A quick Marymount lay-up by Brandon Parker was answered by two more free throws from Abbate to make it 81-77 with 21 seconds left. Puente converted a lay-up on the other end to cut the lead to 81-79 with 11 seconds remaining. The Saints had a chance to tie in the final moments of the game, but Parker missed a jumper and Pooyan Rahimi failed to convert the follow-up at the buzzer as the Shoremen held on for the victory.
Breslin, who played just three minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls, scored eight points in the Shoremen's 18-4 run in the second half, including two on a breakaway dunk. Breslin added a game-high 12 rebounds and two blocks to go along with his 18 points and shot 7-of-11 from the field in the win. Abbate and senior guard John "China" Alexander each added 13 points. Alexander also collected seven rebounds. Junior guard Kyle Stem scored 11 points and dished out a game-high six assists.
Ed Carrai posted game-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Saints in the loss. Rick Palmer added 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and seven boards, while Parker tallied 13 points. Kevin Whitehead came off the bench to score 11 points, grab 10 boards, and block a game-high four shots for Marymount.
The Saints shot a higher percentage from the floor (44% to Washington's 40%), from beyond the three-point line (33% to 24%), and from the free throw line (63% to 56%) and outrebounded the Shoremen, 49-42, but committed 23 turnovers in the game to Washington's 14.
The Shoremen will play either the host Generals or Piedmont College in tomorrow night's 8:00 p.m. championship game of the Washington and Lee Tournament.
Newspaper Box Score Washington (Md.) vs Marymount 1/2/05 6:00 pm at Lexington, Va. At Lexington, Va. WASHINGTON (MD.) 81, MARYMOUNT 79 WASHINGTON (MD.) (4-4) Joe Breslin 7-11 3-7 18; Dustin Abbate 4 12 4-6 13; John Alexander 4-12 4-5 13; Kyle Stem 5-10 1-3 11; Jonathan Webb 3-9 2-2 9; Travis Moore 2-7 3-4 8; Buck Howanski 3-9 1-5 7; Drew Hill 1-3 0-0 2; Kevin Marshburn 0-0 0-0 0; Ryan Nielsen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-73 18-32 81. MARYMOUNT (6-4) Ed Carrai 8-16 4-7 20; Rick Palmer 7-11 1-2 16; Brandon Parker 6-14 0-0 13; Kevin Whitehead 3-4 5-6 11; Rodney Puente 3-4 0-0 7; Evan Martin 2-10 0-1 5; Pooyan Rahimi 1-3 0-0 3; Chris Walker 1-1 0-0 2; Charles Atakora 1-5 0-0 2; Tom Crawford 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 32-72 10-16 79. Washington (Md.).............. 34 35 12 - 81 Marymount..................... 42 27 10 - 79 3-point goals-Washington (Md.) 5-21 (John Alexander 1-2; Travis Moore 1-4; Jonathan Webb 1-3; Dustin Abbate 1-6; Joe Breslin 1-1; Drew Hill 0-1; Buck Howanski 0-1; Kyle Stem 0-3), Marymount 5-15 (Rodney Puente 1-2; Rick Palmer 1-2; Brandon Parker 1-1; Pooyan Rahimi 1-2; Evan Martin 1-7; Ed Carrai 0-1). Fouled out--Washington (Md.)-Jonathan Webb, Marymount-Rick Palmer. Rebounds-Washington (Md.) 42 (Joe Breslin 12), Marymount 49 (Ed Carrai 12). Assists-Washington (Md.) 16 (Kyle Stem 6), Marymount 16 (Evan Martin 4; Rick Palmer 4; Tom Crawford 4). Total fouls-Washington (Md.) 17, Marymount 25. A-225