ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marymount (Va.) University men's basketball team defeated Capital Athletic Conference rival University of Mary Washington on Saturday afternoon, 65-63. The Saints move to 6-9 overall, 3-5 in the CAC this season.

The Saints opened the game with a finish underneath by senior Colin Burkhart, but trailed most of the first half before finding their rhythm around the 10-minute mark when senior Danny Ferry and sophomore D'Ondre Stockman hit back-to-back threes to tie the game at 19.  Marymount put in work on the defensive end as well forcing seven turnovers.

Ferry found the back of the net again later in the half, his third of the game, to give the Saints back the lead at 27-24. Both teams battled back and forth in this one, seeing eight lead changes and six ties through the first 20 minutes of play. 

The Eagles may have taken a 38-35 advantage into the break, but the Saints gained some momentum by the time they hit the locker room after a stretch of plays put the fans in the stands in an uproar. With 38 seconds remaining before the half, Ferry turned the ball over to the Eagles' Isaac Blue who broke down the open court for what he thought was an easy layup. Ferry, not giving up on the play, raced down the court to block the layup attempt by Blue into the backboard. The effort would eventually lead to free-throw attempts at the other end for senior Rick Narcisse which he would hit the front end to cut the deficit to three at the half. 

At the break, Ferry led the Saints with 13 points. 

Burkhart opened the second half with a steal that led to an easy bucket for sophomore Dimitri Rucker to get MU within one and pick the momentum up right where they left it at. The Saints continued on an 8-0 run to take the lead 43-38. Rucker, Ferry and Burkhart all found buckets to get the Saints their first lead of the half. Both teams were back at it with another four lead changes and three ties before the Saints regained the lead with 5:43 left in regulation. Ferry hit the three to give Marymount a three-point lead followed by a three from Narcisse. The lead wouldn't last long as the Eagles put together a 6-0 run to draw the score even at 61-61 with just over two minutes remaining.

The last two minutes of the game proved to be an intense match up between the Saints and Eagles. Narcisse answered the Eagles with a finish underneath after a dish from Burkhart to regain the lead with 53 seconds left. The strong take by Narcisse drew a timeout by Mary Washington, which played out as a good move, cashing in on a layup on the other end to draw it even again, 63-63, along with pulling the foul for a three-point opportunity. Not hitting the free throw, the closing 39 seconds worked out in favor of Marymount.

Bringing the ball down and waiting for the play to unfold late in the shot clock, a slip to the rim by Rucker was found by Stockman to the strong finish at the leftside of the rim for the two-point advantage with 19 seconds remaining. 

The Eagles brought the ball up and managed to get off two contested three-pointers, but both rimmed out as the time expired. 

Ferry led the Saints offense with a game-high 21 points after going 4-for-8 from three-point range, and 8-for-14 from the floor. Narcisse added 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Rucker hit the boards hard collecting a game-high 11 rebounds, four of which were on the offensive end.

The men's squad will continue play in the CAC as they head on the road to face the Sea Gulls of Salisbury on Wednesday, January 20 to close out the first half of league play. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.