ARLINGTON, Va. - The Marymount University men's basketball team sealed up home-court advantage in the first round of the Atlantic East Conference tournament on Wednesday night, using stifling defense to drop Wesley College, 67-47. 

At 6-5 in league play, the victory places the Saints in either the No. 3 or 4 seed in the tournament, pending the result of Saturday's regular-season finales.

The victory on Wednesday night can be credited to the great defensive front by MU, holding a Wolverine squad that averaged over 83 points per game to just 47. Marymount forced Wesley into 21 turnovers in the game, the most by the team this season, which includes against two games against Division I opponents, Towson University and Princeton. Additionally, the tight defense held Wesley to its lowest shooting percentage of the season with 26.5, only hitting 13 of 49 attempts.

Off those 21 turnovers, the Saints capitalized on 16 points including two break-away dunks by junior Steve Etienne, who finished with 14 points, a game-high nine rebounds, and a game-high six steals. 

An even more impressive number was how the Saints dominated the paint, scoring 46 of their points inside, while the Wolverines scored just 10. Much of that came from the game-high performance from junior Ryan Albert, dropping in 18 points, although six of those points were from deep. Albert shot 7-for-10 in the game and 2-for-2 from three-point range for a 6-7 center. 

As a team, the Saints shot 48.3 percent from the floor and saw contributions across the board including eight points by junior Josh Giardina off some crafty drives to the bucket, and freshman Xavier Reaves coming off the bench for nine points. 

Marymount closes out the regular season on Saturday, February 16, hosting Cabrini University on Senior Day. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m., in the Converse Family Fieldhouse.