Senior Scores Shoremen's Final 13 Points, Including Game-Winning Bucket, in 75-73 Victory

TOWSON, MD -- Senior guard Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) scored Washington College's final 13 points of the game, including the game-winning lay-up with 2.7 seconds left, to lead the visiting Shoremen past host Goucher, 75-73, in the consolation semifinals of the Pride of Maryland Championship. 

Washington (1-1) trailed just once in first half, but led by no more than five points in the period. The Shoremen took a 37-33 lead into the intermission following a put-back by sophomore forward Kevin Cunningham (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) as time expired. The Gophers (0-2) shot 50% from the floor to the Shoremen's 43% and 92% from the line to the Shoremen's 62%, but Washington held an 8-2 advantage on the offensive boards in the period. Cunningham's buzzer-beating put-back was his fourth offensive rebound of the half. 

The Shoremen used an 8-0 run to build their biggest lead of the game at 58-46 on a lay-up by  junior forward Charlie McShane (West Deptford, NJ/West Deptford) with 10:41 remaining in the game.  Senior guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield) opened the run with a pair of three-pointers. The Shoremen would then score just four points over the next eight minutes, holding a 62-55 advantage with under six minutes to play before the Gophers ran off 10 straight points, capped off by a lay-up by Marcus Cotton, to surge ahead, 65-62, with 3:46 remaining. 

Breslin then started his run, training two free throws with 2:39 left and converting a traditional three-point play 1:50 to go to give Washington a 67-65 advantage. Brian Morton III then knocked down a pair of free throws for Goucher to even the score, but Breslin answered with two free throws to give Washington a 69-67 lead. Alex Noble made one of two free throws on the next Goucher possession to pull the Gophers within one with 57 seconds to go.

Breslin netted two free throws for the Shoremen with 46.6 left to push the lead to 71-68, but Goucher countered with a pair of free throws by Kendrick Maybank with 36.4 on the clock to trim the margin back to one.  Breslin netted two free throws with 31.5 seconds remaining, but Noble hit a runner and a free throw with 25.2 seconds remaining to even the score at 73-73.  After a Washington timeout with 17 seconds to go, Breslin was stripped on a drive to the hoop, but the ball went off of Goucher and out of bounds with just over seven seconds to play.  On the ensuing play, Breslin received the ball in the low post, made a move around a defender and converted the game-winning bucket with 2.7 seconds left. A desperation mid-court heave by the Gophers was off the mark and the Shoremen came away with the win.

Breslin shared game-high scoring honors by netting 20 points, 14 coming on 17 free-throw attempts. He also pulled down seven rebounds. Breslin was one of five Shoremen in double figures.  Schittino finished with 13 points, while junior forward Tony Hawkins (Mt. Ephraim, NJ/Haddon Township) and senior forward Chris Olsen (Ellicott City, MD/Mount St. Joseph) each scored 11. For Hawkins, the 11 points were a career-high.  Senior forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) rounded out Washington's double-figure scorers with 10 points. Cunningham led the Shoremen with eight rebounds, five of them on the offensive end.

Noble came off the Goucher bench to pour in 20 points, including 18 in the second half. Cotton added 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds for the Gophers.

Goucher's free-throw shooting cooled off in the second half as the Gophers were just 11-for-22 from the line in the final 20 minutes. Goucher finished the game shooting 51% from the floor to Washington's 42%. The Shoremen finished with a 38-36 advantage on the boards, including a 15-9 margin on the offensive end.

The Shoremen will play Stevenson at Goucher at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night in the Pride of Maryland's fifth-place game.  Goucher will play McDaniel at 6:00 p.m. in the seventh-place game.