ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. – Penn College began its United East men's basketball postseason run with an 94-85 upset of fifth-seeded St. Mary's, Wednesday evening. The 12^th-seeded Wildcats improved to 9-17 while ending the Seahawks season at 14-12.

The Wildcats advance to the quarterfinal round and heads to fourth-seeded Keystone on Saturday.

How it happened: The Wildcats led wire-to-wire and snapped a three-game losing streak to the Seahawks by setting the tone early with a near flawless first half. Ronn Flood, Jr., Gavin Barrett and Livingston Cross led the Wildcats on a game-opening 7-2 run.
Barrett kept the Wildcats ahead with a layup to break a 9-9 tie and keep the Seahawks from gaining home-court momentum. Penn College catapulted to a double-digit lead with a 23-12 burst as Cross drained a three for the 45-33 lead with 1:26 to go in the first half.

The Wildcats held a 47-37 lead at the break, shooting 68% (17-25) while holding the Seahawks to just 42% (14-35). Penn College continued its double-digit lead in the second half with a Cross layup extending the lead to 20, 75-55 with 8:50 left in the game which was enough for the Wildcats to weather a late Seahawk run and close out the game hitting 11-of-14 free throws in the final 1:25.

Inside the box: Gavin Barrett led the Wildcats with a game-high 27 points on 6-9 shooting and 14-18 from the free throw line while dishing out six assists and grabbing five rebounds. Cross added 24 points and 15 boards while Michael Woolridge (12) and Flood, Jr. (11) also finished in double figures.

Penn College finished the night with a 59% shooting performance (31-52) and 72% (26-36) from the stripe while limiting St. Mary's to 43% (31-71).