(Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics)
PRESS RELEASE
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Donta Scott scored a career-high 17 points and Eric Ayala added 15 as Maryland beat Mount St. Mary’s 79-61 on Sunday afternoon at the XFINITY Center.
Maryland weathered a balanced attack from the Mountaineers in the first half, trailing by as much as nine points before pulling ahead and taking a 41-32 lead into the break. Despite a 10-point Terrapin lead early in the second half, Mount St. Mary’s was able to hang around and took its first and only lead of the half at the 8:57 mark on a Malik Jefferson jumper.
Maryland answered back with a 21-0 run that spanned seven minutes. The Terps’ 21-0 run late in the second half was the largest since going on a 24-0 run in the first half against Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 21, 2017.
Five Terps scored in double-figures as Scott (17), Ayala (15), Aaron Wiggins (12), Jairus Hamilton (13), and Darryl Morsell (10) paced the Maryland scoring offense. Maryland has now had four or more double-digit scorers in every game this season and five in two of three games.
Chol Marial got his first start as a Terrapin, scoring his lone bucket on a thunderous two-hand jam in the first half.
The Terrapins (3-0) continued to be efficient on offense for the second-consecutive game, shooting 59.6 percent on 31-of-52 shooting from the field. On Friday vs. Navy, Maryland shot 68.2 percent from the field, its highest shooting percentage since shooting at a 73.9 percent clip (34-for-46) against Wake Forest on Jan. 28, 1986.
Next, the Terps will face Towson on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. at the XFINITY Center for their fourth consecutive nonconference home tilt.
