COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – A career-high 33 points by Ursinus freshman guard Malik Draper (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Area) paced Ursinus (7-10, 5-5 Centennial) to a 95-90 overtime win over Swarthmore (4-13, 3-7 Centenial) on Saturday afternoon in men's basketball action.
The win marks the 200th career win for Ursinus head coach Kevin Small, and keeps the Bears alive for a Centennial playoff spot with just eight games left.
Four players, along with Draper, scored in double figures for Ursinus with senior forward Jon Ward (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) scoring 17. Junior guard Ryan Adams (White Plains, N.Y./The Hun School) and junior point guard Jesse Krasna (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) each scored 13. Adams finished with a game-high 11 rebounds for the Bears.
For Swarthmore, senior guard Will Gates scored a game-high 36 points off the bench, including a 16-for-21 performance from the foul line. Junior guard Jay Kober had 22 points, with junior guard Jordan Federer scoring ten.
Ursinus outscored Swarthmore 13-8 in the extra period, and went out and scored the first five points of the extra frame and never looked back.
The game was a slugfest as both teams combined for 76 foul shot attempts.
Swarthmore led all the way through the first half until Ursinus took its first lead at 33-31 on a three-pointer by Draper with 1:53 left. After Swarthmore took the lead back on a foul shot by Gates, Ursinus went in to halftime with a one-point lead 35-34 on a tip-in by sophomore center Michael Marciano (Rahway, N.J./Union Catholic) at the buzzer.
The Garnet would respond as they scored the first points of the second half, then proceeded to take a ten-point lead with 13:02 left at 58-48 on a three-pointer by Kober.
Trailing 78-70 with 5:16 to go, Ursinus went on a 12-4 scoring run capped by a three-pointer from Adams with 2:37 left to give Ursinus an 82-80 lead. Kober would tie the score with 56 seconds left.
On Ursinus' next possession, Draper missed a jumper giving Swarthmore the ball with 35 seconds left. An off-balance jumper by Gates from the left side fell short with one second left and the game went into overtime.
Ursinus suffered at the foul line despite the win, shooting 26-for-41 (63.4 percent) but shot 47 percent from the field in the game.
The Bears host Muhlenberg on Wednesday night.