Nov. 5, 2004

Recap |  Box Score |  Quotes

• The Maryland basketball team opened the 2004-05 season Friday night with a hard-fought 100-85 exhibition win over a gritty Division II Bryant College squad in the teams' first-ever meeting.

• Maryland brought out a seasoned starting lineup that included juniors PG John Gilchrist, SG Chris McCray, SF Nik Caner-Medley, PF Travis Garrison and sophomore C Ekene Ibekwe.

• Five Terps scored in double figures and Garrison poured in 20 points to lead the way, while chipping in 7 rebounds. Ibekwe fell just one board shy of a double-double, finishing with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Gilchrist, McCray and Caner-Medley also reached the double-digit plateau, contributing 18, 14 and 12 points, respectively. After falling behind by two at the break, Maryland outscored the Bulldogs 54-37 in the final 20 minutes.

• Bryant's sharpshooters came out strong, unleashing a barrage of three-pointers and connecting on several early attempts to take a 12-2 lead in the game's opening three-plus minutes. Dan Hammond drained two long-range bombs during the opening stretch and led the Bulldogs with 10 first-half points.

• Ibekwe scored Maryland's first four points on two free throws and a mini-hook shot with 16:32 remaining in the first half. Maryland clawed its way back from the early deficit and knotted the score at 30 with 7:23 remaining in the half on two consecutive three-pointers from Gilchrist, his first points of the game. Caner-Medley's subsequent offensive rebound and lay-in capped a 14-3 run and gave Maryland its first lead of the game.

• Bryant charged back, using three straight treys from Cullen McCarthy around a Nathaniel Sudlow lay-in to take a 41-35 lead with 4:16 remaining.

• SF James Gist, one of the Terps' two freshmen, saw his first collegiate action at the 12:10 mark of the first half. He made his presence felt almost immediately scoring his first bucket on a lay-in just 31 seconds after entering. He finished with five points. Fellow frosh PG Sterling Ledbetter spelled Gilchrist at the 4:04 mark of the first half, and guided the Terp offense for the remainder of the half.

• Garrison's 11 first-half points led Maryland, while McCray and Ibekwe were both perfect from the field, racking up 9 and 8 first-half points, respectively. Ibekwe also collected team highs in rebounds and assists with 6 boards and 3 helpers in the opening frame. The Terps made the most of their 18 opportunities from the charity stripe, sinking 13. For the game, Maryland converted 35-of-48 free throws.

• John Fogarty's reverse lay-in at the buzzer off a wild Chris Burns' three-point attempt gave Bryant a 48-46 edge at the break. In addition to Hammond's 10 first-half points, McCarthy, John Williams and Chris Burns nailed a trio of long-range baskets to collect nine points apiece. The Bulldogs' offense was predicated from behind the three-point stripe, and their 12-for-27 shooting helped them stay ahead or close throughout much of the half. Inside the three-point line, the Terrapins' defense held Bryant to just 5-for-14 shooting.

• Caner-Medley played a key role in a 9-0 run over a two-minute span that would give Maryland a lead it would not relinquish. His two free throws gave Maryland a 58-57 edge, McCray's steal and outlet to Caner-Medley resulted in a fast break lay-in on a goaltending call and his tip-in increased the margin to five before McCray knocked down his second three-pointer of the game to boost the lead to 65-57, Maryland's largest lead of the game to that point.

• Behind the solid second-half performance of John Williams (18 points, 27 total), Bryant would slim the Terps' lead to a single point with 9:37 remaining. Maryland, however, would run off eight consecutive points and stretch their lead to 79-70 with 7:28 remaining. The teams would trade baskets for the remainder of the game, and the Bulldogs could pull no closer than five.

• Maryland's perimeter defense stiffened in the second half, holding the Bulldogs to just 3-of-13 three point shots. They also caused 13 Bryant turnovers that translated into 24 Maryland points.

• The Terps dominated down low, outscoring the smaller Bulldogs 38-16 in the paint. The lead changed hands 11 times, until Maryland pulled away midway through the second half.