Hartford, Conn. – Sophomore guard Phillip Perry (Crownsville, Md.) had 15 points, eight rebounds, and three assists to lead the visiting McDaniel College Green Terror to a 70-53 victory over the Trinity College Bantams in the opening round of the Trinity College Men's Basketball Holiday Invitational on Stan Ogrodnik Court in Oosting Gymnasium. Trinity falls to 4-6 and will play the Regis College Pride in the consolation game tomorrow at 1 p.m. McDaniel, which improves to 5-4 with its fourth consecutive win, will take on the FDU-Florham Devils in the tournament finals tomorrow at 3 p.m. FDU-Florham defeated Regis, 59-51, in the earlier first round game this afternoon.

McDaniel led wire-to-wire, opening the game with a 15-3 run and extended its early lead to 21-6 at the midpoint of the first half. The Green Terror maintained a double-digit lead entering the break, 36-24, holding Trinity to nine field goals in 33 attempts while shooting 14-for-27 from the field and outrebounding the Bantams, 23-17. Perry had nine points and freshman guard Duane Echols (Jessup, Md.) had all eight of his points in the opening 20 minutes. First-year guard Jaquann Starks (Hartford, Conn.) kept the Bantams afloat with 13 first-half points.

After falling behind by as many as 18 points in the second half on a jumper by Perry two minutes after the break, Trinity used a 10-2 run to close to 46-36 on a put-back by rookie forward Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) five minutes into the second half. An Ajayi layup cut the deficit to single digits at 49-40 at the 12:21 mark and the teams traded baskets over the next five minutes to make it a 56-46 score five minutes later, but seven straight free throws by the Green Terror put the game out of reach with under five minutes left on the clock.

Starks finished with a team-high 15 points, while sophomore forward Hart Gliedman (New York, N.Y.) had 10 points and five rebounds for Trinity. Sophomore forward Jamil Ebo (Bloomfield, Conn.) contributed seven points, a team-high eight boards, and three steals, and senior captain Mick DiStasio (Yarmouth, Maine) dished out a game-high four assists for the Bantams. McDaniel cooled significantly in the second half, making seven of its 20 field goal tries, but made 17 of its 22 free throws after intermission. The Green Terror finished 6-for-11 from long range, while Trinity shot 2-for-10 from beyond the arc. Senior co-captain guard Tyler Rudd (Glen Burnie, Md.) joined Perry in double figures for McDaniel with 13 points to go with eight rebounds, and junior guard Nic Martin (Hagerstown, Md.) added nine points, six rebounds, and three steals off the Green Terror bench.