10 Different Players Score For WC In Victory

CHESTERTOWN, MD – Host Washington College had four players score in double figures and had 10 players in all score en route to an 81-63 Centennial Conference men's basketball victory on Saturday afternoon over visiting McDaniel at the Cain Athletic Center.  The Shoremen improve to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Centennial, while the Green Terror fall to 3-5 and 1-3 respectively.  Washington, who shot a season-best 53% from the floor in the win, has won three straight ballgames.

The Green Terror led 12-8 with 13:15 to go in the first half following a layup by James Cranwell when the Shoremen went on a 9-0 run to take the lead for good.  Senior forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) got the game tied at 12-12 with 12:13 left on a transition lay-in.  Following a turnover by McDaniel, WC would take the lead for good just 28 seconds later on a layup by junior forward Charlie McShane (West Deptford, NJ/West Deptford) to give the hosts a 14-12 lead.  The run was capped on a fast-break three-pointer by senior guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield). 

Washington lead 22-18 with 8:33 left in the first after a made free throw by McDaniel's Louis Sarras-Grau when the hosts closed out the half on an 18-8 run to take a 40-26 lead into halftime.  A triple by Schittino gave WC its first double-digit lead of the game at 29-19 with 6:26 remaining in the first.  The Shoremen twice extended the lead to 14 points and closed the half out on two free throws by senior guard Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) with one-tenth of a second remaining in the first after he was fouled in the act of shooting.

In the second half, McDaniel got it within 11 points on two occasions, the last one being a lay-in by Christopher Cowles with 17:29 left in the game to cut the WC lead to 44-33, but they would draw no closer.  Washington would go on a 16-5 run to take a 60-38 lead with 11:26 left in the contest on a lay-in Kevin Cunningham (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape).  The Shoremen would eventually take their biggest lead of the tilt at 23 points on two occasions, the last one being 67-44 with 7:06 left in the game on a jumper by senior guard Mark DeBoy (Baltimore, MD/Mount St. Jospeh).  McDaniel would get it within 16 points on two occasions in the final seven minutes, but could not cut the deficit any further.

Four Shoremen scored in double figures with Schittino leading the way with 15 points.  Naymick and senior forward Chris Olsen (Ellicott City, MD/Mount St. Joseph) each netted 14 points, while Breslin added 13 points.  Olsen had seven rebounds to lead all players, while DeBoy had six assists to tie his career-high.  Breslin, Cunningham and junior forward Tony Hawkins (Mt. Ephraim, NJ/Haddon Township) each had three steals with Cunningham and Hawkins tying their personal high in steals.

Breslin is now at 1,163 points as he passed his brother, Joey Breslin '07, on the Washington College men's basketball scoring list.  Joey scored 1,158 points from 2003-07.  Breslin tied his brother on a free throw to make it 65-42 with 8:26 left in the second half and surpassed his brother on a layup with 4:08 left.

Cullen Murray-Kemp had 20 points for McDaniel to lead all scorers in the ballgame.  Sarris-Grau added 11 points, while Andrew Merlo chipped in with 10 points.  Merlo tied for game-best in steals with three.

In addition to shooting 53% from the floor, the Shoremen shot 57% from three-point range and 68% from the free throw line (25-for-37).  The Green Terror shot 42% from the floor, 23% from behind the arc and 64% from the foul line (16-for-25).  McDaniel outrebounded WC, 33-28, but turned it over 24 times to just 16 for the hosts.  The Shoremen had 16 steals in the win, while the Green Terror only tallied seven thefts.

The Shoremen held the edge in points in the paint (38-32), points off of turnovers (28-10), fast-break points (9-2) and bench points (38-14).  The Green Terror outscored the Shoremen in second-chance points by a 19-9 margin.

WC returns to the court a week from today at 7:00 p.m. against Delmarva rival Wesley in a non-conference men's basketball contest.