ST. MARY’S CITY, Md. – Mike Fitzpatrick scored all of his game-high 13 points in the second half to rally St. Mary’s (Md.) College of Maryland past visiting Guilford College, 70-65, Wednesday night.
The Seahawks (9-3) overcame a five-point halftime deficit to extend their home-court regular-season winning streak to 35 games.
The tightly played affair saw 10 ties and 13 lead changes. Guilford (8-3) held a 61-58 edge with four minutes left in regulation before Kyle Wise’s three-pointer knotted the game at 61 and his two free throws 34 seconds later put the hosts up, 63-61. Guilford’s Gabriel Lowder (Yadkinville, N.C./North Forsyth) tied the game for the 10th and final time with a jumper at the 2:26 mark. Devin Spencer put St. Mary’s ahead for good with the Seahawks’ seventh and final three-pointer of the half.
Two Carson Sullivan (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian (Pennsylvania)) free throws with 1:20 left pulled the Quakers to within 66-65, but Fitzpatrick and Spencer closed the game with two free throws apiece in the final 21 seconds.
Spencer and Fitzpatrick shared game-high scoring honors with 13 points apiece. Both students also had three three-pointers apiece, which helped the Seahawks to 11 trifectas as a team. St. Mary’s shot just under 48 percent (11-23) from beyond the arc, as compared to the Quakers’ five-for-17 (29.4%) three-point shooting. Brendan McFall added 12 points off the bench for St. Mary’s, which helped the Seahawks’ reserves outscore their Guilford counterparts, 33-18.
Lowder and Sullivan both scored 12 points to pace Guilford. Josh Pittman (Archdale, N.C./Trinity) netted all 11 of his points in the second half and teammate Justin Stafford (Winston-Salem, N.C./Calvary Baptist) added a season-high 10 points. Brad Monroe (Asheboro, N.C./Eastern Randolph) recorded a game-high eight boards for the Quakers.
Guilford turns around and heads south 650 miles to Atlanta, Ga., where the Quakers play fifth-ranked Emory University Saturday (12/31) at 1:00 p.m. The Eagles take an 8-0 record into Thursday night’s home game with Rhodes College.
Guilford vs St. Mary’s (Md.)
12/28/11 7:00 pm at St. Mary’s City, MD – O’Brien ARC Arean
ST. MARY’S (MD.) – 70
GUILFORD – 65
GUILFORD (8-3): LOWDER, Gabriel 4-8 3-3 12; SULLIVAN, Carson 3-7 6-6 12; FREEMAN, Will 5-7 2-3 12; PITTMAN, Josh 3-12 3-4 11; STAFFORD, Justin 5-13 0-0 10; McCARTHY, Matt 2-5 0-0 6; MONROE, Brad 1-5 0-0 2; GIBBS, Kevin 0-0 0-0 0; KOPPENHAVER, Will 0-0 0-0 0; EFIRD, Gene 0-0 0-0 0; HINTON, Jarred 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 14-16 65.
ST. MARY’S (MD.) (9-3): Devin Spencer 4-10 2-2 13; Mike Fitzpatrick 4-6 2-2 13; Brendan McFall 6-9 0-0 12; Jeff Haus 2-4 2-2 7; Kyle Wise 1-2 3-3 6; Nick LaGuerre 2-3 0-0 6; Christian MacAuley 3-7 0-1 6; Chris Hutchinson 2-4 0-0 5; Brian Grashof 1-5 0-1 2; MacGyver Biniak 0-0 0-0 0; DeVohn Gilmore 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-52 9-11 70.
Guilford...................... 34 31 - 65 St. Mary's (Md.).............. 29 41 - 70
3-point goals–Guilford 5-17 (McCARTHY, Matt 2-4; PITTMAN, Josh 2-6; LOWDER, Gabriel 1-5; SULLIVAN, Carson 0-2), St. Mary’s (Md.) 11-23 (Mike Fitzpatrick 3-5; Devin Spencer 3-8; Nick LaGuerre 2-2; Chris Hutchinson 1-3; Jeff Haus 1-1; Kyle Wise 1-1; Brian Grashof 0-1; Christian MacAuley 0-1; Brendan McFall 0-1).
Fouled out–Guilford-None, St. Mary’s (Md.)-None.
Rebounds–Guilford 36 (MONROE, Brad 8), St. Mary’s (Md.) 29 (Brian Grashof 6).
Assists–Guilford 9 (SULLIVAN, Carson 2; PITTMAN, Josh 2), St. Mary’s (Md.) 17 (Devin Spencer 4; Brian Grashof 4).
Total fouls–Guilford 15, St. Mary’s (Md.) 17.
Technical fouls–Guilford-None, St. Mary’s (Md.)-None.
A-287
Nonconference game