The Capital Athletic Conference came into existence in 1990-91 and the St. Mary’s College of Maryland men’s basketball team won the inaugural championship in 1991, but the Seahawks have not made a return visit to the CAC championship game since that first-ever title contest. However, on Thursday night, that was rectified.
Back in 1991, St. Mary’s posted an 85-84 road victory over Marymount (Va.) University to claim the first CAC Championship.
St. Mary’s, the fourth-seed in this year’s CAC Tournament, eliminated No. 8-seed Salisbury University from contention with a 95-89 victory in the CAC Semifinals at the ARC Arena tonight. The Seahawks (16-11) advance to Saturday’s conference championship at second-seeded University of Mary Washington, a 75-65 winner over No. 6-seed Marymount (Va.) University in the other semifinal. Saturday’s title game will be at Mary Washington in Goolrick Gymnasium at 7:00.
Salisbury (7-20) has its season come to an end tonight but the Sea Gulls did not go down without a fight as they erased a 23-point halftime deficit to pull within 84-82 with 3:44 remaining in the game. Salisbury went 0-for-4 against the Seahawks this year.
The Sea Gulls outscored St. Mary’s 51-26 in the second half to trail by only two with 3:44 to go but a three-pointer by senior guard Mike Smelkinson (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) and a three-point play by junior forward Alex Irmer (Alexandria, Va./Wakefield) put the Seahawks back up by six at 00:54. St. Mary’s then went 5-of-6 from the free throw line to seal the win.
All of St. Mary’s starters scored in double figures, while Irmer tallied a career- and team-high 22 points off the bench. Senior guard Tyson Lesesne (Edgewood, Md./Edgewood) had 14 points, while Smelkinson and freshman forward Mike Bowden (Columbia, Md./Long Reach) each notched 13 points. Smelkinson also dished out a game-high seven assists and grabbed a season-high seven caroms.
The forward trio of Bowden (13), Wise (11), and Irmer (10) helped the Seahawks post a 56-33 halftime advantage as St. Mary’s owned a double-digit margin for the last 9:29 of the first half. Wise nearly had a double-double in the first 20 minutes with nine boards. As a team, SMCM shot a blistering 64.7% from the floor in the first stanza to the Sea Gulls’ 37.1%.
Junior forward Calvin Wise (Bel Air, Md./Calvert Hall) contributed a double-double on a career-high 14 rebounds and 11 points, while freshman guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) chipped in a dozen points.
Junior guard Wesley Sweet (Fort Washington, Md./Fairmount Heights) led five Sea Gulls in double-digit scoring with a game-high 26 points.