Comeback Falls Short at Mary Washington
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - Wesley College mounted a comeback from a double figure deficit, but Mary Washington held the Wolverines at bay behind 32 points and 22 rebounds from Brandon Altmann for a 73-68 win.
The Eagles (3-3, 1-0 CAC) built a 33-22 halftime lead as Altmann, a D3hoops.com Preseason All-American, hit 8-of-8 field goals on his way to 18 points. The senior had a double-double by the break with 11 boards in the opening 20 minutes.
The Wolverines (3-3, 0-1 CAC) battled back and cut the lead to six after a bucket by Paul Reynolds (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) to make it 45-39 with 11:45 to play. It appeared Mary Washington had put the game away after three by J.R. Gray with 5:36 to play stretched the lead back to 15, 58-43.
Wesley, however, had other plans. Eight seconds later, Chris Douglas () hit a pair of free throws as the Wolverines started to come back as the offense hit eight of its final 14 shots from the floor after starting the game just 14-of-55.
A layup by Reynolds and three by Quayshun Morris (Salem, N.J./Salem) slasched the lead to single digits at 58-50 with 3:55 left. The Eagles again appeared to lock things up, stretching the advantage back to 11 after a pair of Altmann free throws with 1:38 to play.
Another Morris triple, two free throws by Douglas and a Jacques Bowe (Millsboro, Del./Sussex Tech) cut the lead back down to five, 68-63, with just 38 seconds remaining.
The Wolverines were forced to foul, but Jonathan Blaine hit just one of two - the third straight trip to the line the Eagles failed to sink both. Reynolds then converted a three-point play and Wesley trailed just 69-66 with 30 seconds left. Wesley still needed to foul and sent Altmann to the line twice and the forward sank all four to make it 73-66 with just 22 seconds to go.
After Altmann's monster first half from the field, Wesley locked down the big man in the second half, holding him to just 1-of-4 from the field in the final 20 minutes. He hit 12 free throws in the second half, though, to finish 14-of-20 from the line in the game.
Kevin Johnson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) led Wesley with 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting, with four threes. Reynolds added 11 points and three steals in the contest.
The strong finish helped take the sting out of an otherwise cold shooting contest for the Wolverines, who finished the game at 32 percent from the floor. Wesley managed to keep things within reach by forcing the Eagles into 26 turnovers, while committing just 14.
Wesley hosts Marymount (Va.) in a CAC doubleheader on December 6. The men's game is slated for a 4:00 PM start, following the women's game at 2:00 PM.
