February 23, 2010
Sea Gulls fall to Wesley in CAC tournament; several milestones reached
DOVER, Del. - The Salisbury University men's
basketball team saw its run in the 2010 Capital Athletic Conference
tournament come to an end on Tuesday as it fell to Wesley College,
82-64, in the first round of play. The third-seeded Wolverines will
advance to Thursday night's CAC semifinal game against second-seed
York (Pa.) College.
Several Sea Gulls reached career milestones in the loss, as
senior guard Devin Jones (Severn,
Md.) entered the contest needing just 16 points to
join the SU men's basketball program's 1,000-point club. Jones
reached the milestone with a pair of made free throws with 5:01
left in the second half. Senior guard Greg Palmer (Salisbury,
Md.) closed out his career as part of the CAC record
books, as he finished with an 85.45 free throw percentage
(141-of-165), third-best all-time in the conference. Junior center
Chris
McGrew (Burtonsville, Md.) is tied for fourth in
single-season field goal percentage, as he shot 62.5 percent
(130-of-208) from the field this season.
The Sea Gulls (13-12, 9-7 CAC) were plagued in the first half by
turnovers as they coughed over the ball 13 times. The Wolverines
were able to turn those turnovers into points, including a 28-point
lead at one point, which the Gulls were able to bring down to a
22-point lead at the half. The Wolverines (18-7, 11-5 CAC) shot a
blistering 60.6 percent (20-of-33) from the field and 58.3 percent
(7-of-12) from behind the three-point arc.
SU attempted to put together a run in the second half of action,
but the Wolverines were able to stave off any comeback as they kept
the lead in double digits the rest of the way.
Jones and Palmer led the way for the Gulls in the game, as they
each scored 16 points, with Palmer also pulling down a team-high
seven rebounds. McGrew was not far behind as he scored 15 points,
brought down six rebounds and blocked three shots.
Wesley was paced by guard Rudy Thomas, who scored 23 points
and pulled down seven rebounds in the victory. Wolverine
guard Kevin Jones scored 18 points and had five rebounds.
The loss spells the end of the career of three Sea Gull seniors:
Drew
Dickson (Silver Spring, Md.), Jones and Palmer.
Dickson and Palmer played in all 25 games this season, with Jones
just one behind at 24 as he sat out one game with an injury. The
Sea Gulls are expected to return 11 letter winners for the 2010-11
season.
