ST. MARY’S CITY, Md. – Junior guard Jordan Goodwin (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill Academy) and sophomore forward Gary Grant (Washington, D.C./Thomas Stone [Md.]) combined for stellar defensive play in the final 16.6 seconds to seal the one-point win for the St. Mary’s College of Maryland men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon.
St. Mary’s College (5-5, 4-0 UEC) posted a 69-68 United East Conference victory over Wells College (8-6, 2-3 UEC) to maintain its unblemished league record.
How It Happened
- The last draw of the game came at the 11:50 mark of the second half when a pair of free throws by Ransel Rodriguez drew Wells even with the Seahawks at 51-51.
- Five straight points by junior guard Daryn Alexander (Twinbrook, Md./Richard Montgomery) capped a 12-2 run and put the hosts up by 10 (63-53) at 8:05.
- Rodriguez put the Express on his back and scored 13 of the team’s next 15 points over the next seven minutes to close the gap to 69-68 with 1:46 left in the game.
- St. Mary’s College missed its final two shots of the contest and with 16.6 seconds on the clock, Wells called a 60-second timeout after Rodriguez grabbed the defensive rebound.
- Rodriguez brought the ball up the court and Goodwin was right on him, not letting him penetrate the perimeter as the seconds ticked away. Once Rodriguez was finally able to find a way past Goodwin, Rodriguez drove right into traffic and his layup was rejected by Grant as time expired.
- The Seahawks rallied from a nine-point deficit in the first half to establish a 41-37 advantage at halftime and never relinquished their lead the rest of the way despite Wells’ unrelenting pressure.
Inside the Box Score
- St. Mary’s College rained a season second-best 11 three-pointers as the Seahawks finished shooting a season-best 47.8-percent from downtown.
- As a whole, SMCM shot 42.9-percent from the field and received 35 points from its bench players, including a team-best 13 points from senior guard Seth Jones (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Poly Tech) as Jones was 3-for-3 from behind the three-point arc.
- Goodwin finished the game with 11 points and five rebounds while Alexander and first-year guard Elijah Crawford (Oxon Hill, Md./Potomac) contributed 10 points each.
- Grant helped the Seahawks to a 34-38 rebounding margin as he grabbed 10 boards and fell one point shy of a double-double with nine points on the day.
- The inside game belonged to Wells, who tallied 40 of its 68 points in the paint, but were chilly from three-point range as the Express made just 26.7-percent of their three-pointers.
- Rodriguez finished with a game-best 25 points while Jarek Feliz and Jalen Feliz tallied 13 and 12 points, respectively, as Wells saw its five-game win streak snapped.
Up Next for the Seahawks
- Jan. 17 at Penn State Abington (7-5, 1-2 UEC) – Abington, Pa. / Athletic Building – 5:00 p.m.