Box Score WESTMINISTER, Md. – McDaniel escaped the Gill Center with a 59-58 victory over 10th-ranked Franklin & Marshall in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball Saturday afternoon. The loss is the first for F&M this season as the Diplomats dropped to 14-1, 7-1 CC while the Green Terror improved to 10-4, 5-3 CC.
With the game tied at 53-53 with a little over six minutes left the game, Morgan Lee scored three straight for F&M to make it 56-53. McDaniel countered and slowly scored six unanswered points over the next four minutes and took a 59-56 edge with just 12 seconds on the clock. Brandon Federici was fouled on F&M's next trip down the court, sending the freshman to the line for a one-and-one. He sank both shots to bring F&M within one, 59-58, with five seconds left to play.
The Diplomats immediately fouled on the ensuing inbound pass, putting McDaniel at the line for a one-and-one. Andrew Merlo missed the shot and Cedric Moune came down with ball and quickly called a timeout with 4.5 seconds left. After the timeout Moune set for the inbound pass on the far side of the court and heaved the ball just over midcourt when Wesley Brooks picked the ball out of the air to secure the win for the Green Terror.
F&M took control early in the game and jumped out to a 10-0 lead a little over three minutes into the game. Lee's jumper at 13:57 made it 14-3 before McDaniel put together a 14-2 run over next five minutes and took a 17-16 lead at 8:55. Five lead changes and three ties ensued over the next eight minutes resulting in a 28-28 tie at the break.
The Diplomats outscored McDaniel 12-4 during the opening five minutes of the second half and a Lior Levy put back gave the Diplomats a 40-32 lead at 15:01. McDaniel slowly chipped away and outscored F&M 13-4 over the next three minutes and went up 45-44.
The teams exchanged leads with F&M coming out in front on two Jared Wright free throws at 6:56 to put F&M up 53-50, but Phillip Perry converted the traditional three-play for McDaniel seconds later to make 53-53, setting up the epic finish.
Lee scored a team-high 15 points for the Diplomats and pulled down seven rebounds. Moune and Federici both finished with 12 and Devin Figueroa chipped in six for F&M.
Cameron Royster had a game-high 17 points and Tim Stewart shot 7-for-10 from the floor for 14 points. Nic Martin added 10 off the bench for McDaniel.
The Diplomats went 10-for-10 from line and held a 30-27 edge on the glass while McDaniel shot 33-percent from stripe.
F&M returns to action on Wednesday when the Diplomats travel to Dickinson to take on the fourth-ranked Red Devils at 8:00 p.m.
