Zielinski Nets 17 to Lead Shoremen

CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Host Washington College shot a season-best 54% from the floor on its way to an 80-64 win over visiting Goucher on Saturday afternoon in a non-conference men's basketball game on Finnegan Court at Penny J. Fall Gymnasium.  The Shoremen improve to 3-7 overall, while the Gophers fall to 3-6.

Washington College 80 Goucher 64

How It Happened
- Goucher would take its biggest lead of the game with 12:26 left in the first half, 19-12, following a Drew Pitts jumper.
- Washington answered with a 16-2 run to take a 28-21 lead with 7:47 left in the opening half on a Jason Zielinski three-pointer. 
- The Gophers led 37-32 with 2:20 remaining in the first on a Josh Lichti four-point play before the Shoremen scored 13 straight points to take a 45-37 lead into halftime.  Ismael Baqai put the hosts ahead for good on three-pointer with 1:07 left at 39-37 and Kedrick Frink capped the run on a layup with seven ticks left to give WC an eight-point lead heading into halftime.
- Octavius Johnson netted the opening bucket of the second half on a jumper 21 seconds in to cut the lead to 45-39 and that's as close as the Gophers would get as the Shoremen would score 13 of the next 15 points to take a 58-41 lead with 9:51 left following two free throws by Dilyn Becker.  The Becker free throws would cap a 26-4 run spanning both halves.
- The Gophers would score the next six to trim the lead to 58-47 with 8:55 to go on a Will Towne triple as that's as close as the guests would get in the final 8:55.
- WC would push its lead to as many as 19 with 39 seconds to go on a Frink free throw at 80-61.  A Cam Issacs three-pointer for Goucher with 32 ticks left capped the scoring.

For The Shoremen (3-7)
- Zielinski (17 points, five rebounds to tie for team-best and three steals), Becker (10 points and five assists to tie for contest-best), Frink (game-high four steals and five rebounds to tie for team-best), Tray Wright (11 points and three steals), Precieux Tshibangu (two blocks)
- The Shoremen shot a season-high 54% (28-for-52) from the floor, 35% (8-for-23) from three-point range, a season-best, and a season-best 84% (16-for-19) from the foul line. 
- Washington outscored the Gophers in points off turnovers (23-21), points in the paint (34-20), bench points (39-7) and second chance points (11-10).
- The Shoremen had 13 turnovers and held a 29-27 edge in rebounds.

For Goucher (3-6)
- Johnson (14 points and game-high 10 rebounds for double-double; five assists to tie for game-high), Issacs (contest-best 20 points and team-high three steals), Lichti (13 points)   
- The Gophers shot 46% (26-for-57) from the floor, 48% (10-for-21) from three-point range and 40% (2-for-5) from the free throw stripe.    
- Goucher outscored WC in transition points, 4-2.
- The Gophers had 15 turnovers in the contest.

Notes
- Zielinski was named Goose Nation TV Shoreman Player of the Game as his five boards set a personal-best. 
- Today marked the final non-conference game of the season for the Shoremen and the last contest of the 2021 portion of the 2021-2022 schedule.

Quote from Coach Goodman
"Today's win was a great way to cap off the first semester.  It was a tough battle with a tough team. We showed tremendous maturity and focus in this game after a challenging three-game week. We got better today and can't wait to get back in the gym with this team!

"We closed the semester out protecting home court twice this week and winning 2 of 3. We have been playing great team basketball over the past 2 weeks. We have been stacking practices and growing as a team. I can't wait to get back on the floor with this team after a successful week of Final Exams!"

Up Next
1/5/22 v. Ursinus – 8:00 p.m. (Centennial Conference Game)