The Seahawks held the lead for the entire game and led by as much as twelve late in the first half. St. Mary’s did hold off Salisbury in the second half, as the Sea Gulls stormed to within three points with 27 seconds remaining on the strength of a 12-5 run. The late charge by Salisbury, however, was not enough to secure the victory.
Junior guards Ray Williams and Segun Odumeru led the Sea Gulls in scoring. Williams scored 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Odumeru added 18 points on 5-of-12 shooting and was a perfect 8-of-8 at the charity stripe. Odumeru added eight rebounds to lead the team. Senior guard Justin Rice scored 14 points off the bench on 4-of-8 shooting.
St. Mary’s Tyson Lesesne led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting and added four rebounds and four assists. Valdez Preston added 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting, followed by Calvin Wise with 12 points (4-of-7 shooting) and Dan Engelstad with 10 points (3-of-5 shooting). Wise led St. Mary’s with eight rebounds, while Preston added seven.
For the game, Salisbury shot 42.6% (23-of-54) from the floor, while St. Mary’s shot 48.1% (26-of-54) from the floor. Salisbury held a slight edge in rebounds, 34 to 32.
The Sea Gulls will enter the CAC Tournament on the road, as they clinched the fifth seed in the tournament. The team’s conference record of 7-7 tied Gallaudet, but the Bison clinch the fourth seed because they defeated Salisbury earlier in the season. The tournament opens up Tuesday with first-round action.
Newspaper Box Score Salisbury vs St. Mary's (MD) 02/18/06 4:00 pm at St. Mary's City, MD - ARC Arena At St. Mary's City, MD - ARC Arena ST. MARY'S (MD) 75, SALISBURY 72 SALISBURY (13-12, 7-7 CAC) Ray Williams 6-10 6-8 19; Segun Odumeru 5-12 8-8 18; Justin Rice 4-8 4-4 14; Dameon Gibbs 3-5 2-4 8; Ozi Menakaya 2-3 3-4 7; Gary Ward 2-6 0-1 4; Kyle Harmon 1-7 0-0 2; Darren Johnson 0-0 0-0 0; Jonas Vaitkus 0-2 0-0 0; Derrick Washington 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 23-29 72. ST. MARY'S (MD) (9-15, 4-10 CAC) Tyson Lesesne 9-17 2-2 22; Valdez Preston 5-11 4-4 16; Calvin Wise 4-7 4-8 12; Dan Engelstad 3-5 4-4 10; Tommy Bushell 2-3 2-2 6; T.J. Jordan 2-5 2-2 6; Kyle Sullivan 1-6 1-2 3; Chris Moderacki 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 19-24 75. Salisbury..................... 30 42 - 72 St. Mary's (MD)............... 40 35 - 75 3-point goals-Salisbury 3-12 (Justin Rice 2-4; Ray Williams 1-3; Gary Ward 0-2; Segun Odumeru 0-3), St. Mary's (MD) 4-17 (Tyson Lesesne 2-6; Valdez Preston 2-5; Dan Engelstad 0-1; T.J. Jordan 0-2; Kyle Sullivan 0-3). Fouled out--Salisbury-None, St. Mary's (MD)-T.J. Jordan. Rebounds-Salisbury 34 (Segun Odumeru 6; Ozi Menakaya 6), St. Mary's (MD) 32 (Calvin Wise 8). Assists-Salisbury 7 (Ray Williams 2), St. Mary's (MD) 12 (Tyson Lesesne 4). Total fouls-Salisbury 24, St. Mary's (MD) 25. A-302