The St. Mary’s College of Maryland run in the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship came to a halt Friday night, March 12 in front of a sold-out crowd as the No. 13 Seahawks dropped a heartbreaking 92-87 decision to No. 18 Franklin & Marshall College in Sweet 16 action.

The game came down to the wire as the Seahawks closed the gap on an eight-point shortfall in a 20-second span in the final 32 seconds of the contest.  Junior forward Mike Baker (Maryland Heights, Mo./Whitfield School) knocked down two free throws to put Franklin & Marshall ahead, 87-79, with 32 ticks on the clock.

On the ensuing play for St. Mary’s, first-year guard Devin Spencer (Baltimore, Md./Towson Catholic) took a feed from junior guard Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) and drained the three at 00:24 (87-82).  Senior guard Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) then makes good on two free throw attempts at 00:20 and connects on a three-pointer with 12 seconds remaining to pull the Seahawks within 89-87.

Junior forward James McNally (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) sealed the win for Franklin & Marshall as McNally went 3-of-4 from the free throw line and senior guard Anthony Brooks (Orlando, Fla./Lake Mary) blocked Griffin’s three-point attempt with three seconds left.

Franklin & Marshall Diplomats (26-4) will now take on No. 16 Randolph-Macon College (25-6), who was a 68-55 winner over DeSales University in tonight’s first sectional semifinals, in Saturday night’s sectional final at 7:00 pm at the Michael P. O’Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena.  The winner from Saturday’s match-up will advance to next weekend’s “Final Four” in Salem, Va.

St. Mary’s closes its amazing 2009-10 campaign with the program’s best-ever record at 26-4, setting the school record for most wins in a season by any Seahawk basketball squad in program history.  The Seahawks also captured the program’s third Capital Athletic Conference championship crown as well as back-to-back CAC regular-season titles.

The Centennial Conference Player of the Year, McNally led all scorers with 27 points, including 14 in the first half, on 12-of-18 shooting while hauling in a team-high nine rebounds.  Joining McNally with 20+ points was All-Centennial selection sophomore guard Georgio Milligan (Spring Valley, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep) with 22 points as well as a game-high nine assists.  Baker contributed 14 points and seven boards.

St. Mary’s jumped out ahead early in the first half as junior center Sam Burum’s (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) layup gave his Seahawks an 18-10 lead at 13:53 – the team’s biggest margin all game.  F&M was not fazed as the Diplomats outscored the home team, 21-12, in six minutes to claim a one-point lead.

The Seahawks then mounted a 9-2 surge, capped by sophomore guard James Davenport (Owings Mills, Md./Loyola Blakefield) three-pointer, which gave them a 44-38 edge with 3:43 remaining in the half.  F&M responded with six straight to tie the game for the fourth time at 1:50 before back-to-back layups by Burum and Davenport sent St. Mary’s into intermission with a 48-44 advantage.

In his final collegiate ballgame, Griffin paced his squad with 26 points, connecting on all eight of his free throw attempts and matching his career-high with four three-pointers.  Burum also netted 20+ points with 22 on 11-of-14 shooting while Davenport finished the evening with 11 points, six boards, and f