GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Emotion. It can come in two forms. For McDaniel on Wednesday night, it was a lot of emotion. Down 16 to one of the top teams in the Centennial Conference (CC) at one point – negative emotion. Rallying for a game-winner on Rivalry Night at Gettysburg, the Green Terror picked up a crucial 67-65 men's basketball victory.
Tim Stewart (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) did the yeoman's work for McDaniel (8-9, 5-6 CC), pouring in a career-best performance. The senior hit 15 of 20 field-goal attempts to finish with 34 points to go over 900 points for his career. However, it was Wes Brooks (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) who came up with the game-winning shot in a tie game late.
Kevin Gladstone netted 20 points to pace the Bullets (13-5, 8-3 CC), who fall to third place after their second straight home loss.
Tied at 60-all, Tanner Kirkpatrick hit two free throws with 49.4 seconds to put the hosts in front by two. Stewart drove at the other end of the floor and completed his career night to knot the game for the sixth time.
Gladstone responded at the other end, finishing the layup and was fouled by Brooks in the process. The Green Terror senior said he would make up for it.
The Gettysburg senior calmly sank his free throw for a three-point edge.
McDaniel took the ball all the way to the corner and called a timeout. The Bullets fouled out of the timeout.
Josh McWilliams (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) rolled off a stagger screen and swished a triple from the wing with 7.2 seconds on the clock to give him 10 points on the night but the biggest three of his young career.
Rushing up the court to call a timeout and set up a potential game-winning play, the Bullets travelled in the backcourt, giving McDaniel the ball with 5.5 seconds left and a chance to win in regulation.
Out of a Gettysburg timeout, Brooks took the inbound and curled to the right elbow where he leaned in and drained the jump shot with 1.4 seconds remaining, giving him 14 points on the night and making up for his earlier miscue.
The teams traded points over the first five minutes of the game before Matt England and Gladstone each hit two free throws to give Gettysburg an 11-8 lead.
An Alex Kaslander 3-pointer stretched the lead to six with 12:03 showing.
The Bullets stretched the run to 14-2 to make it a 22-10 lead on a Cam Stewart 3-pointer and force a Green Terror timeout with 8:11 on the clock.
The advantage swelled as large as 16 on three England free throws to make it a 30-14 game with 5:47 showing.
McDaniel closed to within 40-28 at the break before scoring the first four points of the second half to close the margin to eight just 52 seconds into the period.
Seven straight points between Stewart and Colin Bortner (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) drew the visitors even at 44-all with 13:19 to play.
Gettysburg quickly pushed the lead back to five.
Trailing again by seven, Stewart made it a 53-48 game with 10:02 remaining, sparking a 14-5 run that gave the Green Terror its first lead since 8-7. It was a Brooks 3-poiner with 1:50 on the clock that made it a 60-58 game.
Stewart rounded out a double-double with 10 rebounds while also adding two assists, two steals and blocked shot.
The win gets McDaniel back to within one-half game of a playoff spot with eight games to play.
The Green Terror returns to action at home against Muhlenberg on Saturday. Game time is 3 p.m.
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