McDaniel rolls to fifth straight victory, second win over ranked opponent with 66-57 win over Franklin & Marshall
WESTMINSTER, Md. – Josh McKay (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Tech) recorded a double-double with a season-best 21 points and 12 rebounds to go with four blocked shots and three steals, leading McDaniel to a 66-57 Centennial Conference (CC) men’s basketball victory over No. 21 Franklin & Marshall on Tuesday. The Green Terror (9-3, 4-1 CC), who also got nine points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals from Chad Arrington (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown), improved to 5-0 in January with its second consecutive victory over a team ranked in the d3hoops.com poll. McDaniel defeated Ursinus on Saturday, who was also ranked 21st at the time.
James McNally led the Diplomats (11-1, 4-1 CC) with 15 points while Clay Scovill added 13.
McDaniel, which entered the game with Division III’s 11th-best scoring defense, held Franklin & Marshall 25 points below its season average. One of three remaining undefeated teams in Division III entering Tuesday, the Diplomats were averaging 82.3 points per game – 25th best in the nation.
The Green Terror, behind baskets from four different players, opened up a 9-0 lead 3:17 into the contest before Mike Baker finally got Franklin & Marshall on the board at the 16:18 mark with a layup and foul.
Through the game’s first 7:15, McDaniel opened up a 13-point advantage, building a 19-6 lead on 10-for-13 shooting (.769) while holding the Diplomats – the nation’s fifth-ranked shooting team – to 2 of 11 from the floor and forced seven turnovers.
The Green Terror opened up a lead as large as 15 in the first half en route to a 35-24 edge at the break before adding the first five points of the second half to push the lead to its largest margin at 40-24.
Trailing 60-51 with 3:10 to play, Franklin & Marshall netted six of the game’s next seven points to close within four but McDaniel went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final 30.1 seconds to seal the victory.
T.J. Odunlami (Columbia, Md./Atholton) added nine points while Miguel Jones (Baltimore, Md./North County) chipped in eight.
McDaniel returns to action at home against Washington (Md.) on Thursday. Game time is 8 p.m.
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