WESTMINSTER, Md. – Miguel Jones (Baltimore,
Md./North County) netted eight of his team-high 19 points
in the final 2:02 to lead McDaniel to a 66-60 victory over Ursinus
in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action on
Saturday.
With the win, the Green Terror (16-5, 11-3 CC) tie the program
record for wins in a season with 16 and maintain its hold on second
place on the CC standings. Franklin & Marshall kept its
one-game lead on McDaniel with a 95-64 win over Washington (Md.)
while the Green Terror extended its advantage over third-place
Gettysburg to two games after Muhlenberg downed the Bullets,
62-58.
McDaniel can clinch its second straight playoff berth and
potentially wrap up a first-round bye with a record-setting
17th victory of the season Wednesday night against
Dickinson – the Green Terror's final regular-season
home game.
John Noonan recorded a game-high 20 points to pace
the Bears (10-11, 6-8 CC), who fell two games out of the fifth and
final playoff spot with four games to play. Ursinus, the defending
CC champion, advanced to the national semifinals last
season.
After Remy Cousart, who finished with 16 points,
gave the Bears a 55-53 lead on an old-fashioned three-point play
with 3:47 to play, T.J. Odunlami (Columbia,
Md./Atholton) converted two free throws 32 seconds later
to knot the game.
Josh McKay (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Tech) hit the
second of two free throws with 2:51 on the clock to give McDaniel
the lead for good and then Jones took over.
With 2:02 to play, the junior drove from the left side, converting
a layup while drawing a foul. He converted the free throw to extend
the Green Terror's lead to four.
After Keith Page completed his 10-point,
10-rebound afternoon with a single free throw at the 1:19 mark,
Jones drove into the lane a converted a floater with just over a
minute to play.
After an Eric Burnett 22-foot triple from the top
of the key closed the deficit to two with 43.3 seconds to play,
Ursinus called a timeout.
Jones brought the ball up court and nearly dribbled out the shot
clock before stepping up and draining a 3-pointer from the left
wing with 12 seconds to play.
Cousart hit the first of two free-throw attempts at the other end
with 5.1 seconds to play before Ryan Finch (Flemington,
N.J./Hunterdon) secured the rebound and hit both of his
free throws with 0.1 seconds showing to cap his 12-point
performance and set the final margin.
After four ties and three lead changes in the game's first
6:49, Finch hit a triple to turn a 12-11 deficit into a 14-12
advantage.
Jones capped a 9-1 run over the next 3:27 that gave the hosts a
20-13 lead.
Matt Howell closed the deficit to 20-19 with 7:49
to play but four of Louis Sarris-Grau's (Huntington
Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) 14 points and a Finch triple
on the Green Terror's final possession of the first half
helped McDaniel push the lead to 33-29 at the
intermission.
A Noonan layup knotted the game at 40-all with 14:36 to play but a
Michael Jarboe (Monrovia, Md./Urbana) 3-pointer in
the right corner capped a 6-0 burst that re-established a six-point
advantage for the Green Terror with 10:53 showing.
With 5:05 to play, Sarris-Grau countered a Page layup to put
McDaniel back on top 53-49 but a Noonan three-point play trimmed
the deficit to one before Cousart's basket-and-foul play Gave
the Bears their only lead of the second half.
Chad Arrington (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown)
added eight points and nine rebounds for the Green Terror, who
turned the ball over a season-low five times in the win.
Game time on Wednesday is 7 p.m.
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