Men's Basketball Woes Continue with CAC Loss

By CHRISTIAN ZAPATERO

Even though the Eagles’ men’s basketball team had three players score double-figure points and a rambunctious crowd behind them, they still fell to Frostburg State, 78-72, on Dec. 1, at the Anderson Center. Winning the opening tip-off was about the only time in the game where the Eagles weren’t playing catch up to Frostburg. Five minutes into the game, Frostburg jumped out to an 8-7 lead and never relinquished it.

Then, with approximately 10 minutes left in the first half, Frostburg increased its lead to 10. However, over the next six minutes, which included a 6-0 run by the Eagles, the University of Mary Washington was able to cut Frostburg’s lead to one, making the score 24-23, with 5:27 left in the first half. During the final minutes of the first half, UMW matched Frostburg basket-for-basket, keeping its opponent to only a 38-35 lead going into halftime.

Over the course of the second half, Mary Washington and Frostburg would go back and forth, but, ultimately, Frostburg commanded a 12-point lead as the game started to wind down. However, in the last several minutes in the game, the Eagles were able to cut the margin of victory to six points. The final score was 78-72.

Excluding the final minutes of the game, the only real excitement in the second half for the Eagles was when Freshman Lamont Fields stole the ball from a Frostburg player and drove it up the court. With an emphatic motion, Fields unleashed an aerial assault on the rim, slamming the ball in for two points.

Sophomore guard Jamie Richardson led the way with 19 points, freshman forward Lamont Fields put in a solid effort with 17 points and six rebounds, and freshman forward John Yoxthimer put in a solid all-around effort with six points, three rebounds and one block.

“I didn’t play well. I need to improve on getting more aggressive on the offensive and defensive side of the ball,” Yoxthimer said. “We missed a lot of shots, didn’t crash the offensive boards like we’re capable of and didn’t have good help-side defense.”

The Eagles were outscored 38-24 in the paint and only had a 42.4 percent from the field compared to Frostburg’s staggering 57 percent.

With the loss, the Eagles fell to 2-4 overall on the regular season and 0-1 in Capital Athletic Conference play. The Eagles rebounded, however, with a 75-69 win over Gallaudet on Tuesday, Dec. 4. The team has a week of rest and will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 19, at Eastern Mennonite.