The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team dropped a 59-52 decision at Salisbury University on Thursday night in the Capital Athletic Conference semifinal round. The Eagles close the season with a record of 8-19.

The Sea Gulls ran out to an early lead, scoring the first eight points of the contest. From there, the Eagles battled back and forth, trimming the lead to seven before the Gulls built the lead to 12, at 23-11, with 9:52 left in the first half.

The Eagles answered with a 7-0 run, including four points from Eric Shaw, to trim the deficit to five, at 23-18, with 6:23 remaining. The Gulls answered with five straight, and led by 10, 34-24, at halftime.

Salisbury opened the second half with a pair of baskets to stretch its lead to 38-24, but UMW scored six straight to trim the lead to 38-30 with 15:47 to go. UMW used a 7-0 run to trim the score to 46-42 with 9:06 left, keyed by a pair of Taylor Johnson baskets, but Salisbury once again had a run to return the lead to 10, at 54-44 with 3:57 left.

Sophomore Matt Forrest hit a pair of three pointers down the strecth, but the Eagles would come no closer than six points the rest of the way.

The Eagles were led by Johnson's 18 points and 10 rebounds, as the senior closed his career with a double-double. Shaw scored 10 for the Eagles as the only other player to reach double figures.

Mary Washington shot 17-51 from the field (33.3%), making 2-16 three pointers, and went 16-19 from the free throw line. Salisbury shot 39.3% (22-56), making 7-24 three pointers, and went 8-17 from the line. The Gulls held a 36-33 rebounding edge.

Salisbury will host the CAC Championship on Saturday against Christopher Newport University.