Although Salisbury State's men's basketball team saw its season end Tuesday with an 87-86 loss at Mary Washington in the quarterfinals of the Capital Athletic Conference tournament, at least senior forward Kyle Jefferson went out in style.
Actually, Jefferson's 24-point, 10-rebound performance counted as an average night, which shows how dominant he has been.
Jefferson, a 6-foot-3, 175-pounder from Hammond High who moved from small forward to the post for the Sea Gulls (12-13), had one of the great seasons in school history. He averaged 27.0 points and 10.7 rebounds, both best in the CAC. His 676 points ranks as the fourth-best single-season total in school history, behind Andre Foreman (two seasons) and Dameon Ross.
Jefferson did it the hard way, by using his quickness to go around and shoot over bigger opponents, and by sacrificing his slender frame in the lane. That helped him get to the foul line 283 times -- an average of 11.3 trips a game. He converted 194 attempts. Both are school records.
He finished his career with 1,419 points, and this season moved from 31st to eighth on the Sea Gulls' career list. He also wound up with 654 rebounds, good for ninth place.
Smooth sailing for Mount?
The path is clear for Mount St. Mary's to wrap up its third straight Northeast Conference women's basketball title. St. Francis (Pa.) fell a game behind the Mountaineers in the NEC with a loss to St. Francis (N.Y.) on Monday, and with three games left in the regular season, Mount St. Mary's appears to be a lock to earn another top seed in the conference tournament.
The Mountaineers (18-5, 14-1) have won 12 straight, and have done it with impressive depth. Sophomore point guard Amy Langville has been out for four weeks with mononucleosis, but her spot has been taken capably by Keisha McCatty. On Tuesday against UMBC, McCatty was out with bronchitis, but freshman walk-on Carrie Jenkins stepped in to run the offense in a 97-53 victory.
The Mount's best player during its 12-game streak has been senior guard Shari Delaney. She has erased a horrendous start by averaging 13.3 points during the streak. She also has converted 44 percent of her three-point attempts and 83 percent of her free throws over that span.
D8 Langville is scheduled to return to practice Monday.
Closing kick
The Mount's women's indoor track team won the last five running events on Sunday to stun four-time defending champion and host Fairleigh Dickinson in the NEC championships, 140-138.
Robin Kloster (Glen Burnie) started the run by winning the 800 meters with a personal best of 2:18.53. Lisa Kaiser then surprised FDU by winning the 300 meters in her first collegiate competition at that distance. Stella Cinoa followed that by winning the 5,000 meters in 18:43.26, nearly 40 seconds better than her previous best. The Mount's 4 X 400 relay team of Kaiser, Kristen Hazel, Aisha Stevens and Heather Moul then pulled the team to within eight points of FDU by winning in a meet-record 3:59.22.
Finally, Amy DeBor, Marnie Desciak, Sarah Weller and Rebeccah Wassner turned the distance medley relay into a rout, winning by seconds in another meet record of 12:37.3 to take the tournament.
Towson progresses in AD search
The search to replace Billy Hunter as Towson State's athletic director -- Hunter is retiring in four months -- is moving along. A 15-member search committee has pared the list of candidates to eight. Initial interviews were expected to be completed by today.
"By early next month, we should have cut it to three or four. Those will be invited back for much more thorough screening," said committee chairman Chuck Maloy.
Maloy, who declined to identify any candidates, said the school plans to announce Hunter's replacement by the end of March.
Miscellaneous
Before he fractured his thumb, an injury that could end his junior season, Towson State guard Ralph Blalock was just three points shy of 1,000 for his career. . . . Goucher junior forward Didi Cotton (Western) became the fourth player in school history to reach 1,000 points Tuesday, when she scored 13 to help the Gophers to a 67-58 victory over Catholic in the CAC tournament quarterfinals. . . . Tom Murphy, who guided Loyola's men's swimming team to 226 victories in 24 years, started the women's swimming program in 1976 and spent 39 years in the Greyhounds' athletic department, has retired. . . . It was a great year for Washington College swimming. The men's team set 14 school records and finished second to Gettysburg with their strongest showing in the Centennial Conference tournament. The women's team also set 14 school records and finished third in the conference tournament, their best finish ever. . . . Coppin State's men's basketball team, especially senior guard Sidney Goodman, is the picture of concentration. The Eagles are shooting 75.2 percent at the foul line, seventh best in the nation. Goodman is shooting 85.6 percent and has made 24 straight.