WASHINGTON, D.C. – Two minutes stood between the Gallaudet University
men’s basketball team and its first Capital Athletic Conference
victory for the 2009-10 season. The Bison battled back from a
13-point deficit at halftime against visiting Marymount (Va.)
University and led the Saints for over 11 minutes before Gallaudet
lost the lead and eventually the game, 77-69, before 425 at the Field
House.
Gallaudet (4-11, 0-9 CAC) held a 67-65 lead with 2:34 left in
regulation before the Saints turned the tide on back-to-back lay-ups
by forward Sam Sentz (16 points). The latter of which gave Marymount
(11-7, 6-3 CAC) a 69-67 lead at the 1:48 mark. The lead was the first
for the Saints since early in the second half when they were up one,
44-43, just five minutes in.
GU tied the game a final time on a tip-in from freshman forward Danny
Kelly (Strongsville, Ohio) with 1:18 to play. Kelly finished the game
with a game-high 17 points, 13 rebounds and a team-high five assists.
The double-double is his second in a row out of six games played this
season.
The game changed 18 seconds later when Gallaudet senior guard Johnny
Jackson (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) was whistled for his fourth foul, away
from the ball, to send the Saints to the line. Kelly missed a jumper
on the next possession, which led to a three-point play from Patrick
Prewitt (14 points), who made a lay-up and was fouled, with 40
seconds left. Marymount iced the game with three more foul shots in
the waning seconds, as the Saints made 6-of-7 free-throw attempts in
the last minute of play.
The Bison trailed 37-24 at halftime but came out in the second half
on fire as Gallaudet busted out with a 14-2 run in the first three
minutes. Gallaudet took its first lead, since the opening minutes, on
a lay-up by junior Bobby Siebert (St. Paul, Minn.) with 14:49 left in
the game. Jackson added a lay-up seconds later to give him two of his
13 points and Siebert followed with another lay-up, as he finished
with seven points, to give Gallaudet a 49-44 lead. Marymount, who led
by as much as 21 points in the first half, ended Gallaudet’s 25-7 run
with five straight points only to tie the game and watch the Bison
break off another scoring run, this time an 8-2 run. GU led 64-56
with five minutes left in the game, which featured six ties and four
lead changes.
Gallaudet shot 51.9 percent from the field, the best team percentage
in nearly two months, as the Bison made 27-of-52 shots. GU was a
stellar 56.3 percent (18-for-32) in the second half. Marymount shot
49.2 percent for the game as the Saints made 30-of-61 shots. GU also
led Marymount in three-point percentage (40 to 33.3 percent) and
free-throw percentage (63.6 to 61.5 percent).
The Bison outrebounded the Saints by two, 32-30, and moved the ball
well as a team as the Bison finished with 17 team assists. Sophomore
guard Brandon McMillan (Frederick, Md.) poured in 16 points and
grabbed five rebounds for the Bison in the loss. Gallaudet had 23
turnovers, 14 in the first half, while Marymount only committed 11
turnovers and made 16 steals. Marymount’s Tarek Ammoury scored 11 of
his 15 points in the second half to help the Saints complete the
comeback.
Gallaudet will look to end its six-game losing streak on Wednesday,
January 27, when the Bison head north to face Stevenson University at
7 p.m. Stevenson narrowly escaped the Field House with a 64-62 win
back on December 2.