Jan. 4, 2005

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By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - John Gilchrist and Nik Caner-Medley each scored 17 points, and No. 22 Maryland cruised to its fifth straight victory, 85-53 over Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday night.

Gilchrist was removed with 6 minutes left, ruining his chance to reach the 20-point barrier in a sixth consecutive game. He played only 26 minutes.

Travis Garrison had 15 points for the Terrapins (9-2), who improved to 108-2 in non-conference home games since coach Gary Williams arrived in 1989. Maryland's next two games are on the road against highly ranked Atlantic Coast Conference foes North Carolina and Wake Forest.

Williams started D.J. Strawberry at forward ahead of Caner-Medley, whose run of 48 consecutive starts ended. The move appeared to be a disciplinary measure, but was deemed a "coach's decision" by a team spokesman.

Caner-Medley came in second on the team in scoring with a 14.6 average.

Landy Thompson scored 20 points for the Mountaineers (3-7), who have lost four in a row. Mount St. Mary's shot 30 percent in falling to 0-5 against the Terrapins and 1-14 against teams from the ACC.

After forcing 12 turnovers and shooting 52 percent in taking a 47-25 halftime lead, Maryland opened the second half with a 7-0 run to go up by 29. Gilchrist had 16 points with 15:55 left, but was used sparingly the rest of the way.

The Terrapins led 15-12 before freshman James Gist scored on a follow jam and Will Bowers made a three-point play to spark a 9-0 run that put the Terrapins up by 12.

After the Mountaineers halved the deficit, Gilchrist turned a steal into a three-point play to start a 21-5 spree into halftime. Six players scored in the run, led by Caner-Medley with nine points.

In the second half, Thompson was the lone scorer for the Mountaineers until Jason Epps hit a runner in the lane with 12:13 remaining to make it 64-36.