WESTMINSTER, Md. – McDaniel rallied from a 17-7 deficit midway through the first half to top Immaculata 68-55 in the men's basketball season opener for both teams on Friday.

Wes Brooks (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) led the Green Terror (1-0) with 15 points while Tim Stewart (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) added 14 points and nine rebounds.

Roy Ferrell Jr. led the Mighty Macs (0-1) with 14 points.

Trailing 17-7, Duane Echols (Jessup, Md./Hammond) and Isaac Ray (Fredericksburg, Pa./Northern Lebanon) canned back-to-back 3-pointers to close the deficit to three with 6:57 to play in the first half.

Immaculata pushed the lead back to eight on two Sean Dougherty free throws with 3:58 on the clock before six straight points from Brooks sparked a 10-0 run.

Brooks canned a triple and then converted a traditional three-point play to make it a 23-21 game before finding Ray for a layup on the break to tie the game. Free throws from Ray and Stewart gave McDaniel its first lead since 5-3.

A Stewart layup with 25 ticks left in the first half gave the hosts a 29-28 edge at the break.

After a Will Chapman layup and Mike Piekarski 3-pointer staked the Mighty Macs to a 33-29 lead 1:31 into the second half, Kevin Yrizarry (Owings Mills, Md./Owings Mills) hit a layup to spark a 12-2 burst.

Six different players contributed points during the run that gave McDaniel a 41-35 lead with 13:35 to play.

Two Ron Melton free throws closed the gap to 46-44 before Cameron Royster (Derwood, Md./Magruder) snapped a 5-minute, 21-second scoring drought with two free throws to push the lead back to four with 6:38 remaining.

A Brooks 3-pointer and two free throws after a technical foul swelled the hosts' lead to 60-50 with 2:26 showing.

Echols finished with 10 points and three steals. Brooks added three assists and three steals.

The Green Terror returns to action in the first round of the York (Pa.) Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament against Pitt-Greensburg on Friday. Game time is 8 p.m.

-30-