THE FACTS
McDaniel (4-2, 2-0 CC) 55, Gettysburg (2-4, 0-2 CC) 53
What: Centennial Conference men's basketball game
When: Tuesday, November 29
Where: Westminster, Md.

THE SKINNY STORY
After a close first half, McDaniel created a lead as large as 11 points over Gettysburg in the second, and a Gettysburg push late in the second half wasn't enough to put them over the top.
 
THE LEADERS
• Rassoul Abakar (Cameroon/Notre Dame Fairfield [Conn.]) chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds to lead the Bullets.
• Ryan McKeon (Landenberg, Pa./Sanford [Del.]) paced the defense with seven blocks, and was the other player in double digits for the Bullets, with 12 points.
 
FOR THE FOES
• Carter Truby led the Green Terror with 14 points and nine rebounds.

THE REST OF THE STORY
• The first eight minutes of the first half held three ties, as both teams worked to find an early edge. McKeon and Abakar were Gettysburg's only point scorers in that stretch, as the teams knotted the score at 10-all. Two baskets by Jonas Sujeta for the Green Terror gave them a four-point lead, but Elijah Williams (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) cut it to two with a fast break jumper in the paint. His bucket stood as the only one for the next four and a half minutes, before Lorin Hall broke up the deadlock for McDaniel, putting them up 16-12.
• The teams went five and five to make it 21-17 for McDaniel, with most of Gettysburg's points in that stretch coming from free throws. Three more buckets in the final two minutes for McDaniel gave them 26 points on the half, while Abakar made a layup and 3-pointer to send Gettysburg into halftime trailing by four.
• Three conversions for McDaniel within the first two minutes of the second half gave the Green Terror their largest lead of the game, at 33-22. Some back-and-forth scoring resulted in a 9-7 run for Gettysburg, allowing them to close the lead within single digits, at nine points with 13:43 remaining. Colin Farrell (Matawan, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) made a free throw for the Bullets, who then went basket-for-basket with McDaniel. Antonello Baggi (Cremona, Italy/West Deptford [N.J.]) knocked down a triple, which gave the Bullets their closest margin in the half, trailing 37-44. He then hit another on a fast break, making it a two-possession game at 44-40 with just over nine minutes remaining.
• A Williams jumper and McKeon layup gave Gettysburg their first tie of the half with six and a half minutes remaining on the game clock. McDaniel got ahead on a jumper, but Carl Schaller (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) countered with a 3-pointer only 16 seconds later to give Gettysburg their first lead of the half, 47-46. This started a 6-2 Gettysburg run that got them out to a five-point lead, their biggest of the game. With less than three minutes left on the clock, however, three different scorers converted for McDaniel, with Carter Truby cashing in on a 3-point attempt to put McDaniel up once more, 55-53. With just over a minute remaining, Gettysburg was not able to find the net again, and the Green Terror took it home.  

THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg shot 38.9% from the field goal range, while McDaniel cashed in on 42.4% of their field goals.
• Gettysburg hit 5 of 19 three-point attempts, while Wilson went four-for-nine.
 
NEXT UP
Gettysburg will return to action against Washington College on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.
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