Olsen Hits Two Free Throws to Lift WC to Win

CHESTERTOWN, MD – Sophomore forward Chris Olsen (Ellicott City, MD/Mount St. Joseph) netted two free throws with 11.7 seconds left in the game to lift host Washington College to a 65-64 win over visiting McDaniel College on Wednesday evening at the Cain Athletic Center in Centennial Conference men's basketball action. The Shoremen improve to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the Centennial, while the Green Terror fall to 6-4 and 2-1 respectively. Washington has now won 17 consecutive home games over McDaniel and have not lost to the Green Terror since 1982 in Chestertown.

McDaniel took a 64-63 lead with 36 seconds left in the tilt when Michael McClain scored on a fast-break layup off of a WC miss. On the ensuing possession, the Shoremen missed the layup, but senior guard/forward Andrew Chambers (Williamsport, MD/St. Maria Goretti) tied up Joseph Potucek resulting in a jump ball. The possession arrow favored the hosts and they got the ball back with 14 ticks left. Olsen was fouled on his drive to the hoop and canned his two free throw to put the Shoremen up one at 65-64. The Green Terror's last shot came with two seconds left by Miguel Jones, but his shot was off and the Shoremen held on for the win.

In the opening half, McDaniel used an 11-1 run to reverse a 14-13 deficit into a 24-15 lead over a span of 7:12. Louis Sarris-Grau put the Green Terror up 15-14 with 13:03 left on a layup. The run was capped by Sarris-Grau jumper with 6:29 to go in the opening 20 minutes. The visitors still led 29-21 with 3:04 to go in the first when the Shoremen closed out the first half on a 10-4 run to reduce McDaniel's lead to 33-31 at intermission. Sophomore guard/forward Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) was fouled with eight-tenths of a second left in the half from behind the three-point line and hit all three from the charity stripe to close out the run and the half.

In the second half, the Shoremen trailed 36-31 with 17:09 left in the contest following a make by McDaniel's Karl Nelson make when they hit the visitors with a 21-6 spurt. Chambers put WC up 40-38 on a three-pointer with 13:16 left. After two free throws by McDaniel evened it up at 40-40 with 12:50 to go, the Shoremen scored 12 of the next 14 points to take their biggest lead of the game at 52-42 with 9:26 to go on a Chambers layup that capped the 21-6 run.

The Green Terror struck right back with a 12-0 run to retake the lead at 54-52 with 5:38 remaining on a jumper in the paint by Marcus Dyson. On the Shoremen's next possession, Chambers drained a triple to put the hosts back up one point at 55-54 with 5:31 left. Washington led 63-60 with 1:49 to go following a pair of free throws from senior forward Alan Kines (Towson, MD/Towson). McDaniel got two free throws from Michael Jarboe to trim the lead to 63-62 with 1:17 left. Following a missed layup by WC, McDaniel would regrab the lead on McClain's layup and would hold up until Olsen's two free throws.

For Washington, Chambers scored a game-high 22 points to spark the Shoremen, scoring 17 of his 22 points in the second half. He also grabbed a team-best seven rebounds. Breslin added 18 points, scoring all of points in the opening half. Senior guard Scott Hampton (Colts Neck, NJ/Colts Neck) and sophomore forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) each handed out four assists to tie for tops on the team and in the game, while Hampton led all players with three steals.

For McDaniel, Jarboe netted 18 points to lead the way for the Green Terror, while Sarris-Grau added 12 points. Sarris-Grau led the squad in assists with four, tying for tops in the contest. Potucek led all players with 12 rebounds as McDaniel held a 36-25 edge on the boards in the contest.

Washington won despite shooting just 38% from the floor, while McDaniel shot 51% in the loss. The Green Terror held a slight edge in three-point field goal percentage, 42% (5-for-12) to 40% (4-for-10). The Shoremen went 21-for-24 from the free throw line for a 88% clip, while the Green Terror shot just 69% from the charity stripe, shoointg 11-for-16. McDaniel turned the ball over 15 times, while Washington coughed it up just six times.

McDaniel outscored Washington in points in the paint by a 34-24 margin, while Washington enjoyed a 16-5 edge in points off turnovers. The hosts held a slim 17-15 edge in bench points. There were 12 lead changes and five ties in this affair.

The Shoremen return to action Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. Centennial Conference game against visiting Gettysburg.