Despite a career night from Seahawks freshman Alex Franz who scored 22 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and also dished out eight assists, Millsaps was able to escape foul trouble late to get a 27-point, 20-rebound night from senior forward Edrick Montgomery.

Montgomery scored the first seven points for Millsaps (28-3) to open the game as the teams traded the first 14 points, knocking down all three shots from the floor including 1-of-2 free throws.

A pair of 3s from Blake Martinez broke open a 14-14 ballgame, followed by a basket in the paint from Rodney Rogan for a 5-point lead at 19-14 – the largest lead for either team in the first half.

Montgomery closed out a strong half for Millsaps just before the halftime buzzer, hitting a layup from a Chad Songy assist to head into the locker room with a 34-33 lead. The senior from Jackson finished the period with a team-high 13 points and nine rebounds.

Franz had his way with the Majors in the period and weaved his way inside open gaps, carrying the Seahawks with 12 points and seven boards on 5-of-8 aim to go along with three steals and a pair of assists.

The teams traded eight leads and three ties in the period as Millsaps, the team with the nation’s second-best assist/turnover ratio (1.47), committed nine turnovers against nine assists – an unusual stat line for the Majors.

Senior Allen Odum’s three tied the game at 39-39 just over two minutes into the second before a three from Tyson Lesesne and a layup from Calvin Wise brought St. Mary’s back on top at 44-39.

An 8-2 run for Millsaps put the Majors back on top at 47-46 until tough baskets in the paint for St. Mary’s and second-chance points allowed the ‘Hawks to counter with a 9-1 run to take their largest lead of the game at seven points, 55-48.

Montgomery picked up his fourth foul of the game at the 10:53 mark, forcing the big man to sit for 4:40. During that span Millsaps fought back to tie the game at 63-63, using nine-straight points from senior Rodney Rogan and a huge offensive rebound from Odum that allowed Songy to knock down the tying three.

Transition defense and key free throws down the stretch allowed Millsaps to hold off the pesky Seahawks, retaking the lead on a pair of Songy free throws, 65-63, and a breakaway dunk from Montgomery to take control at the end. Songy hit a career-high 11-of-12 shots from the charity stripe over the final 4:52, while St. Mary's hit just 2-of-10 as a team.

"The composure of everyone on this team was great tonight," fifth-year head coach Tim Wise said. "We didn't make bad decisions when we were down and we didn't cave in. When we were finally able to get Montgomery back in the game late, I think it helped give him a little more energy coming down the stretch."

Millsaps was led offensively by Montgomery's 27th career double-double in just 28 minutes of work, followed by Rogan with 18 points and 10 boards and Songy with 17 points and a team-best seven dimes – his fifth game this season with seven or more.

The Majors are only one game away from their first-ever Final Four apperance but will have to go through sectional-host and 11th-ranked Wash U to earn that trip. The two teams tip-off at 7 p.m. Saturday night in the WU Field House with Salem on the line.