Terps outlast pesky Colonels

Heading into the Terrapin men's basketball team's game Saturday against Eastern Kentucky — the Terps only game in a two-week stretch thanks to final exams — the pregame build-up surrounded the season debut of forward Dino Gregory after an eight-game suspension for an unspecified team rules violation.

The late-breaking news came when guard Greivis Vasquez, who had started 80 straight games dating back to March 2007, began the game on the bench for showing up late to the team's morning shootaround.

But when it counted, the Terps avoided making the biggest headline of all: a major upset.
After battling the quirky Colonels into the game's closing minutes, the Terps held off Eastern Kentucky for an 83-72 win.

Gregory recorded a career-high eight points in 33 minutes, Vasquez thrived coming off the bench with a team-high 20 points, six rebounds and five assists and the Terps closed on an 11-4 run to seal the win and earn their 10-day break.

"There's a lot of good things that happened today — one of which was we had to play 40 minutes," Williams said. "This is always a tough time of year, and we're glad to get through this game."

Survival became the Terps' goal as the Colonels, who provided mismatches with their three point-happy lineup and pestered the Terps by consistently rotating defenses, gained confidence after a slow start.

Eastern Kentucky (7-3) tied the game at 60 on a pair of Josh Jones free throws with 8:22 left in the game — marking the first time the score was even since it was 0-0.

But guard Sean Mosley hit an elbow jumper to restore the Terps' lead and Vasquez, who missed his first five three-point attempts, knocked in back-to-back treys to make the Terps more comfortable.

The Colonels, who nailed 11-of-23 three-pointers, hit just four field goals after tying the game.

Meanwhile, the Terps made seven of their 10 field goal attempts down the stretch, including six straight to start the run.

"We tried to help each other out a little bit more [on defense,]" said forward Landon Milbourne, who added 19 points and nine rebounds. "They took tougher shots and they started missing, so we was getting rebounds and just scoring."

For a while, the game seemed eerily similar to recent past nonconference Terp missteps, such as last season's Morgan State loss and setbacks to Ohio and American two seasons ago.

The Terps (6-3) started out hot, jumping to a 24-8 lead when Milbourne converted a three-point play with 11:11 remaining in the first half.

But they couldn't keep it up, and the Colonels climbed back into the game with a 24-9 run to pull within a point late in the first half.

Vasquez hit a pair of tough shots in the last two minutes of the half to help the Terps pull out to an eight-point halftime edge, but Eastern Kentucky used its run to build momentum into the second half and warrant thoughts of an upset.

"It's in the back of your mind, but you can't really think about it," guard Eric Hayes said of the past nonconference blemishes. "We just wanted to not be the same team and basically go out there and win the game."

Even with Eastern Kentucky's confounding style, the Terps' fire power proved too much down the stretch.

Gregory, who made his first career start, showed an improved touch on the offensive end, including nailing a mid-range jumper on his first field goal attempt of the season. He also provided a better match-up for the Colonels' more athletic and perimeter-oriented big men, earning him more time than forward Jordan Williams, who was limited to four points and five rebounds in nine minutes. Forward James Padgett did not play.

"Dino had to play a lot more minutes than I thought he'd play today," coach Gary Williams said. "But we had to win the game."

Vasquez showed signs of shaking his early season funk, gaining confidence with a more aggressive approach. The senior poured in 13 second half points and set up several easy baskets with penetration.

"I proved to myself today that when I attack and drive and make guys involved and don't think too much about my shot, that's when I hit the big shot under pressure," said Vasquez, who blamed traffic problems for his tardiness. "It was all mental."

Most importantly, the Terps found a way to close strong and improve to 4-0 at home in their first game at Comcast Center in more than three weeks.

Coming off a stretch that included three losses in four games and heading into their finals week break, that was the best news of all for the Terps.

"We got a win out of it," Hayes said. "We need all the wins we can get."

edetweiler@umdbk.com