Gophers Never Recover from Slow Start, Bow to Shoremen

Cotton Represents Goucher on All-Tournament Team

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Considering that Goucher missed its first eight shots from the field and committed turnovers on five of its first eight possessions, maybe the Gophers were fortunate to be down only 10-0 to Washington (Md.) after 4:12 today as they battled the Shoremen for seventh place in the 2010 Pride of Maryland Championship.

The Gophers were able to close to within 35-32 on a layup by Trae Lindsay (Baltimore, Md./Patapsco) with 2:45 remaining in the first half. And after the Shoremen went up by as many as 17 points in the second half, head coach Leonard Trevino's squad knocked its deficit down to 58-50 when Dorian Green (Baltimore, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) nailed a shot from behind the 3-point stripe with 8:43 left to play.

But the Shoremen (1-3) never surrendered the lead they built up by shooting 65.4 percent from the floor (17-for-26) in the opening 20 minutes and went on to down the Gophers, 71-60.

After the Shoremen saw what had been a 12-point advantage trimmed to three points late in the first half, they were able to close out the period with a 5-0 run that put them up 40-32 at the break. Kevin Breslin's 3-point basket provied Washington with a 57-40 lead eight minutes into the second half.

A run of nine consecutive points by Goucher that started with a free throw by Emmanuel Wood (Washington, D.C./C. H. Flowers) and ended with Green's 3-pointer had the two teams separated by only eight points, but the Gophers never got any closer.

Breslin led all scorers as he finished with 23 points. For Goucher, Lindsay and Kyle Gladden (Baltimore, Md./Lansdowne) shared scoring honors with 10 points apiece.

Marcus Cotton (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook), who averaged 10.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in the three games, represented Goucher on the all-tournament team.