Defense Leads the Keelhaulers into First Place

The California Maritime Academy men’s basketball team had their shot at redemption Saturday afternoon in a rematch with fellow 1st place member, Holy Names University.  Fortunately, for the Keelhaulers of Cal Maritime they brought their defensive shoes and prevailed with a 68-54 victory.  The win is the 6th in a row for Maritime and runs their California Pacific Conference  record to 8-1, one full game ahead of Holy Names whose record stands at 7-2.

The tone of the game was much different than a few weeks ago when Holy Names dictated nearly every possession and beat Cal Maritime 81-78.  Maritime jumped out to a 7-0 run with solid team defense and a willingness to share the basketball.  This recipe continued throughout the first half aiding the Keelhaulers to a 38-21 advantage at the break.

However, as all good teams do Holy Names roared out of the locker room and quickly cut the half time deficit to 6 points.  Fortunately for Maritime, they were able to steady themselves under the leadership of senior captain, Andrew Medeiros (12 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists).  After responding to another flurry midway through the second half, the Keelhaulers stretched their advantage to 20 points with just over 2 minutes left in the game.

For the game, Maritime held Holy Names to 39% shooting from the floor and 28% from three point land.  Maritime was lead in scoring by sophomore Josh Greenwell who tallied 17 points on a steady diet of jump shots.  Greenwell also contributed 10 rebounds.  Joining Medeiros and Greenwell in double figures were Michael Weimer (16 points 9 rebounds) and Leo Sarrade (10 points).

Holy Names’ lone player in double figures was sophomore David Scott who contributed 14 points. Josh Smith chipped in with 7.

“The passion our guys played with tonight was tremendous.  We have talked a great deal this year about enjoying the experience and doing things necessary to get the most out of our season.  We obviously know that Holy Names has an excellent ball club and we were fortunate tonight that we played well,” commented Head Coach Bryan Rooney.

Next up for Maritime will be a conference battle with William Jessup on the road in Rocklin.  William Jessup comes into the game with a 6-2 record.  The last time the two teams met Maritime won 65-62.  However, the Keelhaulers were very fortunate as they trailed by 17 points with just under 13 minutes in the game at Morrow Cove.

“William Jessup is playing as well as anyone in our conference.  We need to have a tremendous effort on the road against a very well coached team,” concluded Coach Rooney.