Breslin Scores Team-High 22 Points

CHESTERTOWN, MD – Dickinson's Gerry Wixted had game-highs of 25 points and 13 rebounds as the visiting Red Devils recorded a 79-74 road win over Washington College on Saturday afternoon at the Cain Athletic Center in Centennial Conference men's basketball action.  The Red Devils improve to 12-9 overall and 9-5 in the conference, while the Shoremen drop to 13-8 and 9-5 respectively.  Dickinson with the win owns the tiebreaker on Washington due to going 2-0 in head-to-head play.

The Red Devils led 35-25 entering the second half, but a 22-8 by the Shoremen trimmed the lead to 47-43 with 13:23 left in the game on a three-pointer by sophomore forward Kevin Cunningham (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape).   Dickinson led 51-45 with 11:41 left in the second half when Washington scored seven unanswered points to take a 52-51 lead on a trifecta by senior guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield).  It was WC's first lead since leading 7-6 with 16:51 left in the first half.  With the score tied 53-53 with nine minutes to go, the Red Devils scored six of the next nine points to lead 59-56 with 6:40 left in the contest on an Adam Honig layup.  The Shoremen answered with a 5-2 run to take a 63-61 lead with 5:18 remaining on a steal and transition layup by freshman guard John Weston (Atlanta, GA/Bolles School (FL).  However on the next possession, Dickinson got a traditional three-point play by Wexted to put the guests back up 64-63 with 5:06 to go and it was a lead they would never relinquish.  Washington would cut the deficit to one point three times with the last time being a Schittino three with 31 ticks left to trim Dickinson's lead to 75-74. 

After Honig hit one free throw to put the Red Devils up 76-74 with 22 ticks left, the Shoremen's last chance to tie it went awry as the jumper by senior guard Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) was off the mark and Chris Heine grabbed the rebound with two seconds left.  Heine was fouled by Cunningham and an intentional foul was called, which gave the Red Devils two shots and the ball.  He sank both to put Dickinson up 78-74 and then was fouled with one-tenth of a second to go and made one from the line to provide the final margin.

In the first half, Dickinson used a 16-2 run to turn a 7-4 deficit into a 20-9 lead with 9:14 left in the half on a Chris Cox jumper.  The Shoremen would go on a 12-4 run to trim the Red Devils' lead to 24-21 with 3:16 left in the first half on two free throws by senior guard Ryan Kearney (Glenolden, PA/Haverford School).  However Dickinson closed the first half on an 11-4 run to take a 35-25 lead into halftime.  A Honig triple with seven seconds to go in the first closed out the scoring in the opening 20 minutes.

Wixted had his 25 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor and 11-for-11 from the foul line.  Honig added 17 points and dished out a game-high six assists for Dickinson, while Thomas McInerney chipped in with 12 points and tied for the game-best in steals with three.  Dickinson shot 50% from the floor, 30% from three-point range and 76% (28-for-37) from the foul line.  The Red Devils had a slim 34-31 advantage in rebounds.

Breslin had 22 points to lead the Shoremen.  Schittino scored 12 points, Cunningham added 11 points, while Weston chipped in with 10 points.  Senior forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) grabbed six rebounds to lead the hosts and tied for tops in the game with a team-high three steals.  Washington shot 37% from the floor, 58% from three-point land (7-for-12) and 74% from the charity stripe (23-for-31). 

Dickinson held a commanding 36-16 edge in points in the paint and a slim 8-7 advantage in transition points.  Washington held the edge in points off of turnovers, 14-12, second chance points, 14-8, and bench points, 20-12.  The Shoremen had 15 turnovers, while the Red Devils coughed it up 20 times.

WC travels to Swarthmore on Wednesday night for an 8:00 game in Centennial Conference action.