Frostburg State (1-1) took advantage of five first half lead changes and 32.9 percent shooting by Salisbury (0-2) to claim a second-round win in the Pride of Maryland Tournament, 70-62, on Saturday at Villa Julie College.
After the two teams exchanged three-point buckets late in the first half, a short jumper in the lane by sophomore Brian Green, Jr. put the Bobcats up, 34-33, with 2:29 remaining in the half. Frostburg extended the lead to three when senior Brandon Howell put back a shot off of a rebound with 58 seconds remaining, giving the Bobcats the 36-38 lead at the break.
The lead changed hands five times in the first, with Salisbury building a lead of as much as eight, going up 19-11 at the 10:48 mark. Junior forward Segun Odumeru broke a scoring drought of just over two minutes for Salisbury with a pair of quick buckets to extend the advantage.
Frostburg didn’t look back for the remainder of the contest and began to pull away in the game’s final minutes. The Bobcats grabbed their first double-digit advantage of the game with a 9-1 run was capped off by a fast-break layup from senior point guard Victor Arana at the 1:33 mark.
The Bobcats put away Salisbury good with 27 seconds remaining, when a long outlet pass from the baseline found senior Daniel Ryley, who slammed it home to give Frostburg its biggest lead of the afternoon.
Three Bobcats got into double-figures, with Ryley leading the way at 18 points. Ryley also grabbed nine rebounds on the afternoon. Green posted 12 points, shooting 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
Frostburg was 6-of-9 from three-point range, good for 66.7 percent.
Along with Williams, senior Justin Rice scored 15 points, making three-of-five attempts fromi behind the three-point line.
Frostburg will take on Goucher in the fifth-place game on Sunday at 2 p.m. Salisbury will face Hood at noon on Sunday, with seventh-place on the line.