CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - Senior
David Kearney scored a season-high 29 points to lead the McDaniel College men's basketball team to a 68-63 victory over Baruch in the championship game of the Al Senavitis Memorial Tournament hosted by DeSales.
The Green Terror (8-2) have won four-straight and captured their first tournament title since winning the Crosstown Challenge with a 73-62 win over host Lycoming.
Kearney totaled a game-high 29 points, one shy of his career high, on 9-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. He also added eight rebounds and two steals.
It was Kearney's fifth 20-point game this season and third in the last four. During McDaniel's four game win streak, he is averaging 25.0 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 69.6 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from three-point range.
Kearney scored 20 of McDaniel's 31 first-half points as the game was tied at 31-31. He went 7-for-10 from the field and scored 12 of his 20 points from behind the arc where he was 4-for-5.
The game featured seven ties and six lead changes, including five ties and six lead changes in the second half. A second chance tip-in layup by Kearney gave the Green Terror a four-point lead with 3:00 remaining, 63-59.
However, four consecutive free throws by Leyi Adebayo tied the game for the seventh and final time with 2:07 left.
Just like it did Sunday in the win over Gwynedd Mercy, the McDaniel defense turned stingy down the stretch. After scoring the final five points against the Griffins and not allowing them to score over the final 3:41, the Green Terror held the Bearcats (5-7) scoreless over the final two-plus minutes.
Meanwhile, Kearney, sophomore Ashenafi Stuart, and junior Ryan Shaffer combined to go 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the last 1:41 to secure the win in McDaniel's first-ever meeting with Baruch.
Stuart finished with 16 points, 13 of which came in the second half, while junior Bruce Black added 12 as the trio of Kearney, Stuart, and Black combined for 57 of the team's 68 points. Shaffer had five points, a game-high eight rebounds, and three assists.
In two games in the Al Senavitis Memorial Tournament, Stuart totaled 29 points for an average of 14.5 per game.
McDaniel wraps up a five-game road trip on Monday, January 5 at Immaculata in its first meeting against the Mighty Macs since Dec. 10, 2016.
