text: Swiping at will: defense key to Sea Gulls' success
  Salisbury University's men's basketball team hasn't been playing like Sea Gulls this year.
  When an opposing ball handler brings the ball up court, the Sea Gulls are on him immediately trying to swipe the ball away. When a foe receives a pass in the low post, they are swarming him.
  It's as if the basketball was a juicy steak and the Maroon and Gold weren't a flock of sea gulls, but a pack of hungry dogs eagerly looking for their next meal.
  Playing hard, fast, invasive and opportunistic defense hasn't just been the priority for the Sea Gulls this year. It's also been their key to success.
  "We want to emphasize defending," said Salisbury head coach Andy Sachs. "We want to keep teams under 40 percent, we want to turn teams over, we want to get 40 deflections a game and we want to execute inside and out offensively."
  It's not that the Sea Gulls didn't play defense last season, or that they weren't good at it. Salisbury played solid defense under Josh Merkel on their way to a Capital Athletic Conference championship.
  But this season, defense has been the Sea Gulls best weapon. It's the reason they have won nine of their first 12 games to start out.
  "We're good when we do things that we're good at," Sachs said.
  The one thing that the Sea Gulls are the best at is making opposing teams uncomfortable by pressing, which leads to turnovers, which translates into easy points. Defense has been the Sea Gulls' best form of offense in the 2015-16 season.
  Out all of the Division III men's college basketball teams, Salisbury is second – to only the Worcester Polytechnic Institute – in points allowed per game. Through 12 games, opposing teams have only scored 58.5 points per contest against this new version of Salisbury basketball.
  "We haven't done a lot of full-court pressing because I don't want to wear the guys out," Sachs said. "That will change as we move into a different era."
  Buying into defense
  The Sea Gulls haven't used the full-court press a lot this season, but they did take that wrinkle of their versatile defense out for a test spin against York College on Wednesday, Jan. 6 inside Maggs Gym.
  Salisbury won the game 75-56, but built that lead early by pressing the Spartans into mental mistakes and making them choke up possessions. By halftime, York had turned the ball over 14 times and would give the rock up to the Sea Gulls 10 more times in the second half.
  The Sea Gulls are ninth in the nation and first in their conference in turnovers forced per game with 19.8.
  "We're just trying to outrun teams and strap up on defense," said Gordon Jeter, a junior forward for the Sea Gulls.
  The Sea Gulls also lead the CAC in steals per game with 11.3. They swiped the ball away from the Spartans 15 times Wednesday night, with Jeter and senior guard Adrien Straughn accounting for nine of those.
  But the Sea Gulls aren't just coming up with steals and swiping the ball away via the full-court press. They are forcing teams to turn it over in the half-court as well.
  To win games, the Sea Gulls have had to force teams to play their style of basketball. This season, for the most part, they have been able to do that.
  "I like to extend defense and the guys have bought in to it," Sachs said.
  One of the things that makes the Sea Gulls so unique and so good is that they have a lot of guys who are around the same size and are great at similar things.
  "It's very valuable," said senior point guard Rocky Harris. "From one through five, everybody can put the ball on the floor, drive past someone, kick it out and the next person can catch the ball, pump fake, drive past and we can just continue that until we find a shot that we want."
  And all of the players are solid defenders who can embezzle a ball with ease. Seven different Sea Gulls recorded at least one steal against York.
  Containing big men, without their own
  Coming into this season, having a team full of mostly guards seemed like it could problematic for the Sea Gulls. One of the reasons they were so successful last season was because they leaned on Wyatt Smith, a 6-foot-6 forward who was skilled around the basket and could bang with the other big men around the CAC.
  But then Smith suffered a shoulder injury before the season and had surgery. He'll sit out for the Sea Gulls' 2015-16 campaign.
  The concern was that, without Smith, how would the Sea Gulls stop other big men? How would they score inside?
  The answer has been to play at an accelerated pace.
  "With our size of team this year, we have no other choice but to play fast," Harris said. "We have to trap every single big man that gets the ball in the low block and hope that they turn the ball over so we can get points in transition."
  That formula hasn't made the Sea Gulls invincible against towering centers and power forwards, but it has proven to be a recipe that can diffuse some of the damage that big men can inflict on the Sea Gulls.
  "We double the post a lot, regardless of who the post player is because we want to force turnovers," Sachs said. "Most big guys at this level are not great passers."
  Sachs' plan against opposing bigs was tested against York. Playing for the Spartans is a 6'7" junior from Finksburg, Maryland – Dalton Myers who is averaging 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
  Against the Sea Gulls, Myers had a quiet 21 points and nine rebounds.
  "He's really good," Sachs said. "He's the best big kid I've seen in this conference."
  Myers' scoring didn't come in bursts or bunches though. It was just a lay-up here, a floater there and three free throws.
  If not for the Sea Gulls' bothersome barricade against him, he could have scored much more. A lot of times, the Sea Gulls would double Myers as soon as it appeared he might receive a pass.
  He also had Jeter guarding him too, who may be undersized, but makes up for that in effort and tenacity.
  "I just use my strength and I feel like I'm faster than most big guys down low," Jeter said. "I try to use my quickness. It's just about positioning, that's everything. I try to think a step ahead of the guy I'm going against."
  Jeter, a graduate of Easton High School and the 2014 CAC Rookie of the Year, is having another stellar season starring for the Sea Gulls. This season, playing most of his minutes at the four or five spot, he is averaging 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.3 assists per game.
  "He's having a really good year," Sachs said. "I knew he would."
  Despite the Sea Gulls' impressive defense and winning record, Sachs and his players aren't happy about where they are right now.
  "We didn't expect to have those three losses," Harris said. "We know we have to bring it every day, especially with us winning the CAC last year, everybody is coming for us. We have a target on our back."
  One area where the Sea Gulls have struggled at times is starting strong and holding leads. A poor performance in the second half against Christopher Newport on Dec. 2 resulted in the Sea Gulls' first loss of the season.
  "We have to play consistent for the whole 40 minutes," Harris said. "We can't be getting punched in the mouth in the first half and expect to bounce back in the second half every single game."
  Against York, the Sea Gulls showed one other area that needs some fixing.
  They were hesitant, at times, to pull the trigger on shooting a three-pointer.
  Several Sea Gulls were shy to shoot when they caught the ball outside with plenty of space between them and the nearest defender. They would pump fake and drive, or pass right away. A few times when they passed up an open trey, Sachs cringed a bit as he watched from the sidelines.
  "I don't want them to be like that," Sachs said. "A good shot to me is balance and vision. If you have balance and vision then it's a good shot. We have guys that can shoot the basketball. Part of it is we're playing a lot faster and putting a lot of emphasis on the defense."
  That focus on defense is what got the Sea Gulls to nine wins so far this year and it is what will carry them throughout the rest of the season. As long as Salisbury can continue to force teams into turnovers, force teams to play fast and force opponents into being uncomfortable, then they will continue to lean on their strongest skill.
  Salisbury can be better. With a 2-3 record against CAC opponents they are only fifth in conference standings.
  "To be 9-3, I'm happy, but I'm not satisfied," Sachs said. "All games are more significant now. We have a long way to go."