By: Aaron Robinson
It was a career night for Eric Ayala, who poured in 23 points, including 13 free throws, to lead the Maryland Terrapins to their fifth win of the season, ending a two game skid. Aaron Wiggins scored 15 points and added nine rebounds and was the second of five Maryland players in double figures en route to an 84-71 victory over the La Salle Explorers.
“I was just kind of reading,” Eric Ayala, a junior guard from Wilmington, Delaware, said when asked how he was able to get to the line so frequently. “Today, I got to the line, guys were fouling, and it was easy for me to get to the line and make free throws.”
Although the Terrapins got contributions from multiple different guys on offense, it was not their best night shooting the basketball. Maryland shot just 25 percent from three, connecting on seven of 28 attempts from deep.
It was their defense that carried the Terrapins to victory tonight.
“I thought the last five minutes of the first half we were as good as we’ve been all year on defense, we were really good,” Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said.
The Terrapins used a 10-0 run, forcing three turnovers that led to breakaways for Aaron Wiggins and Jairus Hamilton to head into the locker room with a 40-25 lead.
It was more of the same in the second half, as Maryland forced seven turnovers, and baited La Salle into a few more tough shots that lead to a couple of highlight reel plays, including a lob from Eric Ayala to Hakim Hart that put the Terrapins up 72-69.
“I always tell Hakim he got to dunk the ball a little bit harder, because he always lays the ball up,” Aaron Wiggins, a six-foot-six junior from Greensboro, North Carolina, joked. “That was really good for us, it gave us a lot of energy on the bench and in the game.”
This energy was on display again when Donta Scott, a six-foot-seven inch sophomore from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, jammed home a ferocious put-back with 3:17 to go, giving Maryland a 76-62 lead, slamming the door shut on any chance of a La Salle comeback.
“All I saw was the rim,” Scott said of his put-back. “It was good to see my guys cheering me on and get the burst of energy from it.”
Scott finished the game with 11 points and added seven rebounds, while Jairus Hamilton, a junior transfer from Boston College pitched in 10 points and two rebounds off the bench.
Tonight’s victory moves the Terrapins to 5-2 on the season and concludes non-conference play for Mark Turgeon’s squad.
Maryland will head to Purdue for a Christmas day game, followed by two games against ranked Big Ten foes in Wisconsin and Michigan.
Turgeon says his team is still searching to find it’s rhythm, but that they are heading in the right direction as the thick of their season is set to begin.
“We’ve gotten better since the Clemson game, there is no doubt about it,” Turgeon said. “It’s still early, we are not in any kind of rhythm right now whatsoever, but tonight is a good start for us heading into this road trip.”
Four of the Terrapins next six games will take place away from the XFinity Center, and of those next six contests, four also come against ranked opponents.
According to Wiggins though, the team is ready to go.
“We have got work to do, and things to work on, but I think for the most part we are right where we want to be.”
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