WESTMINSTER, Md. – For the second time this season, McDaniel hosted a top-10 team. For the second time this season, the Green Terror handed its guests a loss. McDaniel built a 14 point-lead before rallying to top No. 9 Dickinson 78-73 in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action on Wednesday.

Andrew Merlo (Rehoboth, Del./Cape Henlopen) netted a season-best 25 points for the Green Terror (14-8, 9-6 CC), including 17 in the first half when the senior went 5-for-5 from long range. The No. 9 ranking marks the highest ranking ever defeated by McDaniel, which has twice defeated a No. 10-ranked team.

Gerry Wixted recorded 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Devils (18-4, 11-4 CC), who dropped their second straight game to fall into a tie for second place with three games to play. Brandon Angradi added 24 points.

Dickinson put together an 18-4 run after Merlo hit a layup for a 50-36 lead with 15:47 to play to een the game at 54-all.

Angradi capped the run, hitting a 3-pointer with 10:41 showing.

Nic Martin (Hagerstown, Md./St. Maria Goretti) responded at the other end with a layup to put McDaniel back in front before the senior found Cameron Royster (Derwood, Md./Magruder) for a 58-54 lead with 9:19 to play.

A Wixted three-point play and Angradi 3-pointer put the visitors in front 60-58 with 8:04 remaining before Chris Cox hit the second of two free throws for a three-point advantage nearly a minute later.

A Phillip Perry (Crownsville, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) layup trimmed the deficit to one with 6:55 on the clock before Wes Brook (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) canned a triple 56 seconds later for a two-point lead that the Green Terror never relinquished.

Brooks drained a second 3-pointer with 4:28 on the clock and a Perry steal-and-layup stretched the lead back to seven.

A Duane Echols (Jessup, Md./Hammond) steal-and-layup extended the lead to 72-63 with 3:09 remaining before three Wixted free throws trimmed the margin to six with 1:30 to play.

Two free throws around a Wixted layup made it a 74-68 game with 65 ticks remaining before a Cox putback trimmed the margin to four with 50.1 seconds showing.

Two Merlo free throws with 47.7 seconds on the clock pushed the lead back to six before a Wixted three-point play with 35.9 seconds made it a one-possession game.

After two missed free throws, the Red Devils missed a game-tying 3-point attempt and Perry came out with the rebound. The senior calmly sank both free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining to secure the win.

A Wixted layup and Angradi 3-pointer staked Dickinson to a 5-0 lead in the game's first 1:28.

Two Merlo free throws with 17:20 on the clock sparked a 15-2 counter. The senior contributed 11 points during the run.

Five straight points from Angradi trimmed the margin to 15-14 before a Royster three-point play spakred another 13-4 burst that stretched the lead to double digits with 5:17 remaining.

The Red Devils closed to within 31-28 on a Steve Collins layup with 2:51 showing but a Royster three-point play and putback jumper at the buzzer helped stretch the lead to 39-31 at the break.

Perry and Royster finished with 12 points each while Merlo added four assists to his 25 points. Brooks finished with nine points and a career-high six assists.

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

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