By Isabella Sansanelli
Elm Staff Writer
As the Washington College community traveled home for the holidays, the men’s basketball team remained on campus for almost the entirety of the winter break.
They competed in five games during the month of January, four of which were Centennial Conference games. The team totaled two wins and three loses out of these five matches, garnering two more Conference wins to add to their total record of 3-6 in the Conference and 7-9 overall.
The first of these matches took place on Wednesday, Jan. 2, when the Shoremen traveled to North Carolina to face off against Division I opponent, High Point University. The game resulted in a 101-60 loss for WC.
The Shoremen made it a tight match in the first half, starting off with a shot from junior captain Dallas Marshall to take an early lead.
WC saw continued success from freshman Tray Wright, who scored a three-pointer to bring the Shoremen back to fighting status with the Panthers after their six-point run.
Despite the efforts of the team, they were ultimately left outscored by the Panthers 47-13 in the second half to be defeated by a margin of over 40 points.
The second game of winter break took place against Conference opponent Franklin and Marshall College on Tuesday, Jan. 8 at the Mayser Center in Lancaster, Penn.
The nail–biter ended in a close score of 45-42, with junior forward Alec Lewis scoring a three-pointer at the buzzer bringing home a win for his team.
“I think our defense did a great job during this game and gave us a lot of opportunities to score, the team worked great together and really deserved this win,” Lewis said.
Next up for the Shoremen was was another Conference win as they faced off with the Gettysburg College Bullets on Thursday, Jan 10 that ended with a score of 76-61.
The two Centennial Conference opponents were neck and neck for the entirety of the first half and ended with a score of 27-27.
During the second half, the Bullets made a comeback as they took an aggressive 24-17 lead and ended the game with a fifteen-point margin.
Lewis again made an outstanding appearance at this game, scoring his career high in points and assists totaling 24 and six, respectively. Wright lead the team in rebounds totaling eight for the match.
On Saturday Jan. 12, the Shoremen faced yet another Conference opponent, the Dickinson College Red Devils.
In this match, junior captains Josh Porteous and Marshall tied for the game high in points, scoring 16 each as they fought hard to bring the Shoremen back from the Red Devils’ 14 point run in the beginning of the game.
The Shoremen were able to come back and end the first half with only a seven-point deficit and even ended up outscoring the Red Devils in the second half, but only by two, to still leave the game in a 73-68 loss.
The last game over the winter break was against the Haverford College Fords, that resulted in their third loss of the break with a score of 77-57.
Both Lewis and sophomore Barry McCormick scored the game high for the match as they each garnered 13 points each.
The Shoremen started with a 10-6 lead in the first half, and a shot at the buzzer by McCormick led the Shoremen to only a three-point deficit by the end of the first half.
They were unable to pick up the slack in the second half as the Fords outscored the Shoremen 52-35.
McCormick shared a comment about both the Haverford game as well as their winter break season.
“I think these games have served to help us all fine-tune our skills and although some of the outcomes were not what we had wanted, I am sure that we will be able to demonstrate resilience in our upcoming matches and comeback to close out the season on a high note,” he said.
The Shoremen were scheduled to host Muhlenberg College on Saturday, Jan. 19, but due to weather conditions the game was rescheduled to Monday, Jan. 21 at home.
WC’s next game will be at home versus McDaniel College on Thursday, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. for their Go4theGoal Pediatric Cancer Awareness Day.