Sophomore guard Tyson Lesesne gave the Seahawks their largest lead of the contest at 59-46 with 11:29 remaining after sinking two free throws. That is when Gallaudet kicked it into another gear and started their comeback attempt.
The Bison made their 18-6 run to cut the deficit to just 65-64 with 5:51 showing on the clock. Senior forward Frank Jackson paced the comeback with eight points while senior guard Robert Haney Jr. added four points during the run.
St. Mary's responded by pushing the lead back to seven points before Gallaudet narrowed it back to three with 1:51 remaining. The Seahawks again answered by extending the lead to eight points and had the Bison cut it to four at 77-73 with 46 seconds remaining.
That would be as close as the Bison would get in the final minute as St. Mary's connected on a fast-break lay-up and hit all four of their free throws in the final minute of play to secure the win.
Lesesne posted game-highs with 27 points and seven assists for St. Mary's. Sophomore guard Dan Engelstad and freshman center Calvin Wise each added 13 points while senior forward Tommy Bushell posted ten points with six rebounds.
Haney Jr. led the Bison with 19 points and five assists while Jackson added 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds with four steals. Sophomore guard Matthew Eby was the only other Bison player to reach double figures as he posted 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field with five rebounds.
The Seahawks will travel to Salisbury University on Saturday afternoon in an attempt to reach the .500 mark. The game against the Sea Gulls is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score Gallaudet vs St. Mary's (MD) 01/18/06 8:00 pm at St. Mary's City, MD - ARC Arena At St. Mary's City, MD - ARC Arena ST. MARY'S (MD) 83, GALLAUDET 77 GALLAUDET (8-7, 2-3 CAC) Robert Haney Jr. 8-20 3-4 19; Frank Jackson 6-9 3-4 16; Matthew Eby 5-6 3-4 13; Luther Weedon 3-6 0-0 9; Bradley Miller 3-6 2-4 8; Jon Mowl 2-6 0-0 6; Stephen DaSilva 2-4 0-0 4; Onye Davis 1-1 0-0 2; Kazeem Babatunde 0-0 0-0 0; Matthew Johnson 0-2 0-0 0; Sekoe White 0-0 0-0 0; Brendan Stern 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-62 11-16 77. ST. MARY'S (MD) (7-8, 2-3 CAC) Tyson Lesesne 9-20 7-9 27; Calvin Wise 6-8 1-3 13; Dan Engelstad 3-5 7-8 13; Tommy Bushell 4-5 2-3 10; Valdez Preston 3-8 0-1 9; T.J. Jordan 3-5 0-0 7; Kyle Sullivan 2-2 0-0 4; Ryan Carr 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-54 17-24 83. Gallaudet..................... 31 46 - 77 St. Mary's (MD)............... 36 47 - 83 3-point goals-Gallaudet 6-22 (Luther Weedon 3-5; Jon Mowl 2-5; Frank Jackson 1-1; Stephen DaSilva 0-2; Matthew Johnson 0-1; Brendan Stern 0-2; Robert Haney Jr. 0-6), St. Mary's (MD) 6-15 (Valdez Preston 3-7; Tyson Lesesne 2-7; T.J. Jordan 1-1). Fouled out--Gallaudet-Stephen DaSilva, St. Mary's (MD)-None. Rebounds-Gallaudet 31 (Frank Jackson 8), St. Mary's (MD) 34 (Tyson Lesesne 6; Tommy Bushell 6). Assists-Gallaudet 15 (Robert Haney Jr. 5; Jon Mowl 5), St. Mary's (MD) 20 (Tyson Lesesne 7). Total fouls-Gallaudet 24, St. Mary's (MD) 18. A-238