ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Muhlenberg closed the game on an 11-3 run to stave off a McDaniel rally and notch a 72-64 Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball victory on Wednesday.

Phillip Perry (Crownsville, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) and Tim Stewart (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) led the Green Terror (7-4, 2-3 CC) with 16 points each while Duane Echols (Jessup, Md./Hammond) added 11.

Malique Killing led the Mules (7-5, 2-3 CC) with 23 points while John Hunter added a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

Jumpers from Stewart and Echols turned a 12-point deficit into an eight-point margin with 4:37 to play before two Killing free throws pushed the lead back to double digits.

Back-to-back Perry layups and a pair of Stewart layups in a 32-second span closed the deficit to 61-57.

A Nic Martin (Hagerstown, Md./St. Maria Goretti) jumper made it a two-point game before a Stewart steal led to an Echols layup on the break to even the game at 61-all with 2:25 to play.

Echols missed the ensuing free throw to give his team the lead and Alec Stavetski was fouled on the rebound. He sank both attempts from the charity stripe at the other end to give the hosts the lead for good.

Two Martin free throws made it a 69-64 game but the Mules converted three of their final four attempts from the line to seal the win.

Behind back-to-back 3-pointers from Killing, Muhlenberg built a 6-2 lead in the game's first 1:55.

Layups from Perry and Stewart closed the deficit to 8-6 with 16:09 on the clock before Jon Schreer hit a 3-pointer for an 11-6 advantage.

Layups from Stewart and Martin evened the game at 12-all with 13:52 showing.

Killing put the hosts back in front at the other end of the floor before a Stewart layup and Perry three-point play gave McDaniel a 17-14 edge with 12:09 showing.

A Perry steal-and-layup extended the lead to 21-16 with 8:27 on the clock

Evan Skoparantzos' (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) first college points came on a 3-pointer with 6:50 on the clock to give the Green Terror its largest lead at 25-18.

A Schreer 3-pointer closed the halftime margin to 31-29.

A 7-2 burst out of the locker room gave Muhlenberg a 34-32 edge just 1:33 into the stanza before Echols hit a layup to even the game.

A Schreer 3-pointer at the other end sparked a 10-2 burst that opened up a 44-36 advantage with 14:07 showing.

The Green Terror closed to within 49-45 on a Stewart jumper with 9:48 on the clock before two Hunter free throws sparked another 10-2 stretch over the next 3:17 to give the hosts their largest lead, 59-47.

Martin finished with six points and six rebounds while Perry added three steals.

McDaniel returns to action at Haverford on Saturday. Game time is 3 p.m.

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