Two weeks ago, St. Mary's made the long trip south to visit Archbishop Walsh and they were humbled. The Eagles dominated early, moved the ball beautifully on St. Mary's, and knocked down shot after shot, preventing any hope the Lancers had of getting back in the game. On Tuesday night in Lancaster, it was senior night at St. Mary's. Following a pregame ceremony, the Lancer seniors channeled all their emotions into the task at hand, and completely flipped the script on the Eagles.
Following the same formula that worked against them just two weeks earlier, the Lancers spread the floor, moved the ball, and most importantly knocked down the open shots, as they took apart the Eagles, 77-60. The win secures the third seed in the upcoming Manhattan Cup playoffs, while Walsh slips to the fifth seed.
Jake Denz got things going for St. Mary's, scoring his team's first seven points. The Eagles hung tough early and had three different players hit 3-pointers in the game's first six minutes (Marcus Clarke, Jake Chapman, & Deon Gayton), to take a 16-13 lead. Following a Lancer free throw, Nate Meyers hit his second of five 3-pointers that would give St. Mary's the lead. Nicc Johnson scored the last four points of the quarter to give the Lancers a 21-16 lead after one, and they never looked back.
St. Mary's outscored the Eagles 18-8 in a second quarter that began with Meyers canning a '3' and concluded with him scoring on a difficult hanging layup. The Lancers finished the half on a 9-2 run and led 39-24 at the break.
Walsh never quit and made several attempts to climb back into the game. However, each time they would cut into the lead, the Lancers responded. Five straight for Walsh was met by the same from St. Mary's. The Eagles hit a '3', the Lancers came right back and did the same. As the pattern went on, the Lancers confidence grew. Late in the third quarter, Denz converted an exciting backdoor lob pass for a bucket and then hit a free throw on the next possession to extend the Lancer lead to 54-35, matching the largest lead they would have in the game.
Meyers finished with a team-high 19 points, Denz scored 17 points, and Johnson finished with 12 points. All but six of St. Mary's 77 points on the evening came from seniors, including contributions from Frank Sardina, Ryan Winnicki, and Sean Floyd. Erik Simmons ran the point exceptionally well for the Lancers and combined with fellow senior Devin Redden for 17 points.
Walsh was led by Ryan Whelpley's 23 points, all of which he was forced to work extremely hard for.
-centercourt
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