WESTMINSTER, Md.--The McDaniel College Green Terror held off a
furious Blazer rally in the closing minutes of the second half and
held on to earn a 66-64 victory over the Hood College men's
basketball team Tuesday evening in the opening round of the second
annual Provident Bank Pride of Maryland tournament.
McDaniel handed the Blazers their first loss of the season and
advance to the winners' bracket of the tournament, while Hood will
take on Villa Julie College in the second round at 1:45 p.m.
Saturday at Goucher College.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair which saw three ties
and four lead changes. Hood's largest lead of the period was just
six points after a Ryan Junghans three-pointer put the Blazers up
30-24 with five minutes to play. But the Terror quickly scored the
next six points to knot the game at 30-30 in a span of 40 seconds.
Senior Sean Robine capped the first half scoring with a pair of
free throws to give the Blazers a 36-33 lead at the break.
Robine and Junghans combined for 21 of Hood's 36 first-half
points while Tim Abercrombie chipped in seven points. However the
Blazers were plagued by foul trouble as forward Jesse Gutekunst
along with Nnamdi Uzoukwu and Abercrombie were all whistled for
three first-half fouls.
In the second half, McDaniel rallied to tie the score at 40-40
within the first three minutes on a three-pointer by Ryan
Brandenburg. Later in the half, the Blazers found themselves
trailing 46-42 when Gutekunst picked up his fourth foul contesting
a shot by Josh McKay. Prior to McKay's foul shot, Gutekunst was
assessed a technical foul, his fifth personal, and was
disqualified. Brandenburg hit the ensuing foul shots to put the
Terror up 48-42 with 14:21 to go. McDaniel extended its lead to
seven (52-45) after a layup by Chad Arrington at the 12:02 mark,
forcing the Blazers to call timeout.
For the next several minutes, the Blazer lineup consisted of
four players under 5-10. But Hood utilized its quickness and
tenacious defense to force several Terror turnovers which turned
into transition baskets. Abercrombie fed Junghans under the basket
for two and freshman Nick Scott scored Hood's next four field goals
to regain the lead, 55-52, with 7:39 to go.
After holding McDaniel scoreless from the field for a span of
4:37, Brandenburg snapped the drought with a layup at the 7:25
mark. Later in the half, with the score deadlocked at 59-59, the
Terror ripped off seven straight points over the next 3:33 to
assume a 66-59 lead with 1:26 left in regulation. But the Blazers
wouldn't quit, using an Abercrombie triple and another layup by
Scott to pull to within 66-64 with 39 seconds left. After a Hood
timeout, McDaniel burned 29 seconds off the clock before turning
the ball over with 9.8 ticks remaining. The Blazers called another
timeout to try and set up a potential game-tying or game-winning
shot, but they would need to go the length of the court quickly.
Robine inbounded the ball to Darnell Edmonds who drove to the lane
but was tied up by the Terror defenders and the Blazers were unable
to get a shot off.
Four Blazers reached double figures in scoring, led by Junghans'
14 points. Scott and Robine tallied 13 points apiece and
Abercrombie netted 12. McDaniel also had four players in double
digits, paced by Brett Foebler's game-high 15.
