Virginia 91, Maryland 76
3/9/2008 7:46 PM
By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va (AP) -Sean Singletary scored 27 points in what was likely his final home game and Virginia beat Maryland 91-76 Sunday night, damaging the Terrapins' already withering hopes of gaining an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.
Singletary, honored with three other seniors beforehand, had his jersey retired and unveiled hanging from the ceiling. He finished in style, also added six rebounds and eight assists to help the postseason hopes of the Cavaliers (15-14, 5-11 Atlantic Coast Conference), and added his 2,000th career point on a layup with 2:28 remaining.
It gave Virginia an 82-73 lead, stopped a 5-point run by Maryland and left the Terrapins (18-13, 8-8) with another damaging loss, its fourth in the past five games.
Shortly thereafter, Singletary added a punctuation mark, stealing the ball and lofting a fast-break alley-oop pass that Mamadi Diane threw down with both hands.
As was fitting for the occasion, Singletary was spectacular most of the night, and the crowd rose and cheered wildly when he was removed with 36.6 seconds to play.
Singletary also sparked the run that gave Virginia command, scoring on a layup with a 360-degree spin and then hitting two free throws to begin a 13-3 burst that gave Virginia a 51-44 lead with 15:40 to go. The run ended when Singletary first threw in an underhand layup in traffic, then fed Jamil Tucker for a 3-pointer from the corner.
Maryland closed to within 67-64 on Landon Milbourne's dunk with 7:16 to play, but Laurynas Mikalauskas hit a pair of free throws and Tucker scored, pushing the lead back to seven, and Singletary took over shortly thereafter to ensure the victory.
Greivis Vasquez led Maryland with 16 points and nine assists, Adrian Bowie scored 15, Bambale Osby 14 and Milbourne 12.
Tucker and Adrian Joseph added 13 each for Virginia, Diane had 12 and Mikalauskas and Calvin Baker each scored 11.
Virginia, now assured of at least a .500 record, will play seventh-seeded Georgia Tech in the first round of the ACC tournament on Thursday in Charlotte, N.C.
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