Mosley Leads Maryland Past Georgia Tech 61-50
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- As a senior on a team full of freshmen and sophomores, Sean Mosley is expected to be a leader in practice and off the court, and set an example for Maryland's squad this season.
On Sunday, Mosley carried that leadership role over to the court, as he scored all but two of his 18 points in the second half to lead Maryland to a 61-50 victory over Atlantic Coast Conference rival Georgia Tech.
Mosley scored 13 of the Terrapins' final 18 points to lead Maryland (12-4, 2-1) to its second straight ACC win. He was 10 of 10 at the foul line and also came up with a steal with 1:10 left that sealed the defeat for the Yellow Jackets (8-9, 1-2).
"Mosley was the toughest kid on the court. He flat-out won the game for them," Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory said.
Maryland was leading 43-37 with 9:06 left to play, and Mosley had just five points, when he took over the game. He was nearly unstoppable the rest of the way, hitting a 2-pointer, a 3-pointer and eight free throws.
Mosley scored the game's final seven points on a 3-point basket and four straight free throws.
"Sean (Mosley) is a leader of this team. He understood we needed points in the end of the game and he took us to another level," said Maryland's Terrell Stoglin, the ACC scoring leader, who had 14 points despite playing with a sore back.
Mosley's perfect day at the foul line was part of a 19-for-23 performance there for Maryland, which shot a dismal 18 of 54 from the floor.
"I want to show my leadership and maturity in practice. I have played with some great players here (who) all talked the entire practice, and I learned from them. It has carried over (into the games)," said Mosley. "Hopefully, the other guys can pick up some things from me that will help us. Communication and leadership are definitely keys."
In addition to Mosley and Stoglin, the Terps were sparked by James Padgett, who had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Nick Faust, who scored half his eight points off steals.
After Faust's first steal, he closed the first half with a dunk to give Maryland a 24-19 lead.
"Defensively, he was a momentum-changer," said Stoglin, who scored in double figures for the 15th time this season. "It gave us a lot of momentum and everyone got into the game after his (first) dunk. He had a great game."
Among Stoglin's scores was a four-point play early in the second half -- a 3-point basket and free throw -- which followed his 3-pointer that started a 10-2 run, which put Maryland up 36-26 with 16:30 to play.
Maryland has won eight of its last nine games and has beaten Georgia Tech in 11 straight regular-season meetings, the only loss since 2004 coming in the 2010 conference tournament.
The Yellow Jackets have lost five of their last six games. They were led by Kammeon Holsey's 11 points. Their leading scorer for the season, Glen Rice Jr., was held to six points. They shot just 33.9 percent (19 of 56) and made just 3 of 17 from 3-point range.
"Defensively, we picked it up today. Everyone was doing their job," said Stoglin. "We stopped their main scorer. Everyone did their part to get this win."
Both teams struggled in the first half, with Maryland making more free throws (8 of 9) than field goals (7 of 27, 25.9 percent), while the Yellow Jackets shot 24.1 percent (7 of 29) and were 2 of 10 behind the arc. The 19 points was Georgia Tech's lowest scoring half of the season.
"I thought they forced us into some tough shots," said Gregory. "We maybe took a couple of quick threes, but other than that we actually outshot them from the field. The difference is that they had a couple guys step up."
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
