HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA (December 30, 2009)—In a back-and-forth game, it was Alex Franz of St. Mary's who had the last strike as he hit the game winning three pointer with 12 seconds to play, putting the Seahawks up 70-69. Franz was named Tournament MVP while Hampden-Sydney's Turner King (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Catholic) was also named to the All-Tournament team after scoring 12 points while adding six rebounds.

The game began slow with both teams struggling to score. Neither team could pull away, and at the 10:37 mark the score was deadlocked at 11. Hampden-Sydney took the lead on a King layup, but St. Mary's responded with five unanswered points to go up 16-13. The Tigers did not fall, however, and aBen Jessee (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) three at the 6:54 mark tied the game again at 18.

After Camontae Griffin scored five points to put the Seahawks up, Colin O'Neill (Fort Leavenworth, KS/Fort Leavenworth), Harrison George (Raleigh, NC/Leesville) and Lane Medlin (West Point, VA/Fork Union) put the Tigers back on top 25-23.

The lead, however, was short lived with a James Davenport triple putting the Seahawks back on top by one. The Tigers tied the game at 28, but St. Mary's hit a layup to give them a 30-28 lead they would hold for the final 3:28 of the half.

Though St. Mary's went up as much as 36-30, Hampden-Sydney scored the final five points of the half to go into the intermission down 36-35.

It only took Hampden-Sydney 20 seconds into the second stanza to gain the lead via two O'Neill foul shots. George later hit a layup that put the Tigers up 46-40.

St. Mary's battled back and a Franz trey gave St. Mary's the lead back at 49-46 with just under 14 minutes to play.

Hampden-Sydney then hit its stride going on a 15-0 run over the next five and a half minutes. Hampden-Sydney managed to keep a 10 point lead until the 5:15 mark when St. Mary's began to creep back into the game.

In two minutes, St. Mary's outscored the Tigers 11-2 to cut the Hampden-Sydney lead to 66-65 with just over three minutes to play. Neither team scored until Jonathan Mudd (Miami, FL/American) broke the drought with two free throws putting his squad up 68-65 with a minute and a half remaining.

Jonathan Jones laid the ball in to put the game back to 68-67, but Mudd connected on another free throw to give the Tigers a two point cushion.

It was then that Franz came up with the dagger, hitting the game winning three pointer.

The Tigers were led by O'Neill who tallied 13 points and eight rebounds. George and King were not far behind with 12 a piece while Jesse added 11 points.

Franz had solid outing with 21 points, 10 rebounds seven steals and 4 assists while Griffin, who also made the All-Tournament team had 18 points. Sam Burrum and Johann Jones rounding out the scoring for the Seahawks with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

The Tigers won the battle of the boards out-rebounding the Seahawks 39-33. The Tigers were just 38.5% from the field via 20-of-52 shooting while St. Mary's was 22-of-51 (43.1%).

Hampden-Sydney now stands at 5-5 on the year and will kick off 2010 with a tough ODAC match up in Harrisonburg, VA as it travels to face Eastern Mennonite University on January 2. Tip off is set for 2:00 pm.