The Muhlenberg men's basketball team set a school record with 18 three-pointers in an 81-62 win against McDaniel.

Combined with an Ursinus loss to Dickinson, the win gave the Mules (15-6, 8-6) a two-game lead for fourth place in the Centennial Conference with four games remaining in the regular season. The fourth-place team hosts a first-round playoff game.

After three straight hard-fought road games, one an overtime win and two losses to teams ranked in the top 10 in Division III, Muhlenberg enjoyed its return to Memorial Hall, building a 29-point lead at halftime and coasting from there to reach the 15-win mark for the first time in six years.

Three-point shooting was the main reason for the big lead. The Mules went 14-for-24 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes, coming within two of the school record of 16 threes in a game in the first half alone. Although their pace slowed in the second half, the mark - set last year against Haverford - fell when freshman Michael Koch made the second of his back-to-back threes with 7:38 left.

Koch (pictured above), who came into the game with five points scored all season, erupted for 13, going 3-for-3 on three-pointers. He was one of five players in double figures, joined by senior Matt Gnias (19) and sophomores Dallas Hoffman (14), Nate Henty Brown (12) and Dan Gaines (11).

Gnias scored 15 points in the first half alone, all on threes, to move into a tie for 11th place on the program's all-time list with 120 career treys. Henty Brown and Hoffman combnied to go 7-for-10 on threes in the first half.

Muhlenberg made five of its first seven three-point tries in opening up an early 21-7 lead. The score was 26-18 with 6:40 left in the half before the Mules closed out with a 26-5 surge, making seven consecutive three-point attempts during the run.

Henty Brown finished one rebound shy of a double-double, while Gaines dished out seven assists, giving him 99 for the season.