WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Hood College men's basketball team committed just six turnovers, its fewest in three years, in a 63-58 win over St. Mary's (Md.) on the opening day of the Battle of D.C. & Maryland, hosted by Catholic.
Inside the Box Score
- Trumaine Strickland (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) returned to the lineup and scored a game-high 20 points.
- Soren Almquist (Oakton, Va./James Madison) came off the bench for 12 points and two blocks.
- Garrison Linton (New Market, Md./Oakdale) hit 4-for-5 from the field and finished the day with 10 points, six rebounds and a team-high five assists.
- Jack Fricka (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) led the Blazers with seven rebounds and Ryan Hollwedel (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) recorded three steals.
How it Happened
- A Daryn Alexander bucket with 12:17 left in the game gave the Seahawks a 44-43 lead. Hood responded with an 8-2 run over the next 4:45 to take the lead. Christopher Smalls (Washington, D.C./St. Andrew's Episcopal) and Strickland split the scoring during the run, including two Smalls' free throws that made it 51-46 at 7:32.
- The Blazers never relinquished the lead despite St. Mary's making several pushes. The Seahawks scored the next five points, tying the game with a pair of Gary Grant free throws with 5:21 to play.
- Hood went back in front with flurry of six points over a span of two minutes and led 57-51 after a driving layup by Strickland with 3:23 remaining.
- After Jordan Goodwin's 3-pointer pulled St. Mary's withing 59-57, Almquist was fouled shooting a 3-point shot and made two of the resulting free throws to extend the lead back to four.
- The Seahawks trailed by three after a Nazareth Fisher free throw with 49 seconds left. Hood came up empty on its next possession before Fricka stole the ball and was fouled on the other end. He made his only points of the afternoon count, sinking two free throws to ice the game with 17 seconds on the clock.
- The first half featured two big runs, one by each team, before the two sides traded leads over the final seven minutes with the Seahawks leading 30-29 at the break.
- St. Mary's scored four points to open the game but Hood embarked on a 16-2 run. The Blazers hit all six of their field goal attempts during the run, including three 3-point field goals by Jevon Yarbrough (Williamsport, Md./Williamsport) to take a 16-6 lead with 13:46 to go in the half.
- Bryant Palmer halted Hood's run and started an 18-5 surge for the Seahawks, who took a 24-21 lead when Micah Henry scored with 7:16 on the first-half clock.
Analysis
- Hood's six turnovers in the game were its fewest since committing six against Delaware Valley in November 2019. The Blazers, meanwhile, forced St. Mary's into 18 miscues and held a 22-6 edge in points off turnovers.
- Led by Almquist and Yarbrough, Hood's reserves nearly doubled the scoring output of the Seahawks' bench 27-14.
- The Blazers shot just 32 percent from the floor, including an 11-for-43 mark from behind the arc. St. Mary's connected on 45 percent of its shots.
- At the free throw line, Hood went 12-for-16 (75 percent), while the Seahawks hit only 6-of-15 (40 percent).
Notes
- Hood improved to 2-2 on the year, while St. Mary's took its first loss to fall to 2-1.
Up Next
Hood will face Catholic in the championship game of the Battle of D.C. & Maryland on Sunday, November 20.
