Senior guard Riley Welch (Springfield, Va.) scored a team-high 20 points, and sophomore forward Daniel Peterson added 10 points and 17 rebounds off the bench to lead the University of Mary Washington men's basketball team to a 78-66 win over Mount Aloysius College in the Penn State-Harrisburg Tipoff Tournament on Saturday in Harrisburg. The Eagles, playing their first game in 20 months, improve to 1-0.
The Mounties jumped out to a fast lead, outscoring the Eagles, 8-0, over the first five minutes of the game. Ten straight UMW points, including consecutive baskets from senior Emmanuel Aghayere knotted the score at 12-12. Four straight lead changes on baskets preceded an Eagle run kickstarted by a Welch layup, and the Eagles held a 23-17 advantage with 6:23 remaining in the first half.
Mt. Aloysius knotted the score with consecutive three pointers, and the game remained tight until the final horn of the half, with a three-pointer from senior guard Anias Saunders (Culpeper, Va.) giving the Eagles a 35-32 advantage.
UMW began to pull away in the second half, using eight early points from Welch to extend the lead to 46-37 with 13:41 on the clock. A Da'Shawn Cook layup with 11:33 left gave UMW a 54-41 lead, but ten straight MAC points cut the margin to 54-51 with 5:42 to play. COnsecutive baskets from Da'Shawn Cook and Ra'Shawn Cook extended the lead to 58-51 with 4:57 left, and the Eagles weren't challenged thereafter.
Welch led UMW with 20 points on 6-13 shootingwith three 3-pointers and 5-5 from the free throw line. Da'Shawn Cook scored 17 points on 4-10 shooting, while Saunders added 12 points, going 5-10 from the floor. Peterson scored 10 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end.
The Eagles shot 25-64 from the field (39.1%), making 9-29 three-point attempts (31.0%) and 19-29 free throws (65.5%). Mount Aloysius shot 23-54 from the field (42.6%), making 5-18 three point shots, and 13-19 free throws. UMW held a 42-38 rebounding advantage, and forced 21 Mountie turnovers.
The Eagles will face Penn State-Harrisburg on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.