Fresh off an upset loss to Kim English’s George Mason Patriots earlier this week, the Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball team was on the brink of a second upset loss. Maryland scored the final six points of the game to rally past Hofstra 69-67 Friday night.
With the game tied at 67-67, Eric Ayala blocked Omar Silverio’s three point attempt with four seconds remaining. Then Ian Martinez was fouled by Silverio, sending him to the free throw line.
Martinez made both free throws. Still there was time still on the clock. However, Fatt Russell stole the inbounds pass fresh out of the timeout to seal Maryland’s win.
Ayala had tied the game at 67-67 with a nice drive to the bucket.
Ayala led the Terrapins with 14 points. Russell and Maritnez each had 13 points. Jalen Ray had a game-high 18 points for Hofstra.
Maryland improves to 4-1 on the season. They shot 41.7% from the field, but struggled with 5-of-22 shooting on threes.
Friday night’s close call has been the theme for Maryland in all but one of the five games. They’ve squeezed by less than stellar opponents, Vermont, George Washington before losing to George Mason. All the games have been at home.
The loss to George Mason will surely bump them down in the top 25 rankings. If Mark Turgeon’s group want to fulfill expectations they’ll have to jell soon.
