COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College basketball team gave Dickinson another dose of Helfferich Hall magic. A year after upsetting the fourth-ranked Red Devils, the Bears went ahead for good on a clutch 3-pointer by sophomore guard Brian Rafferty and held on for a 69-67 victory in an instant Centennial Conference classic. With its third straight win, Ursinus moved into a tie with Dickinson for sixth place in the packed conference playoff chase, just a half-game back of McDaniel in fifth and a game behind Johns Hopkins in fourth.
Sophomore forwards Remi Janicot (15 points, 14 rebounds) and Joseph LoStracco (17 points, 10 rebounds) registered double-doubles for Ursinus (9-9, 5-6), which got the better of Dickinson (6-12, 5-6) for just the second time in nine meetings. This one is not likely to be forgotten.
Two evenly-matched foes landed punches and counterpunches throughout a second half that featured seven ties and nine lead changes, each looking to strengthen its postseason chances. With the Bears trailing 63-61, freshman forward Matt Williams drove the lane for a tying lay-up, and a free throw by LoStracco made it 64-63. Senior guard Brandon Angradi answered with a challenged jumper, putting Dickinson back on top.
With the shot clock winding down, Rafferty nailed the biggest shot of the season, getting a contested 3-pointer from the top of the key to rattle around the rim and drop, sending the Bears' bench into a frenzy and putting the home side ahead to stay. After the teams traded empty possessions, junior forward Patrick Mekongo, who had missed all three of his free-throw attempts to that point, stepped to the line and calmly canned a pair with 19.9 ticks left to provide a four-point cushion. The Red Devils misfired on three straight triples, rendering Angradi's buzzer-beating jumper moot.
Freshman guard Jule Brown led all scorers with 18 points and added seven rebounds for Dickinson, which got 16 from Angradi. The Bears held Dickinson senior forward Ted Hinnenkamp, a preseason All-American and the conference's leading scorer, without a point in the first half; he finished with only seven, though he did snag 11 boards.
Dickinson shot just 31.9 percent for the game (23 of 72), and 18.8 percent from downtown (6 of 32). The Red Devils hit their first two from deep, but went 4 of 30 from that point on as the Bears bore down.
Both LoStracco and Janicot notched their third double-double of the season; they combined to go 10 of 18 from the field and 11 of 14 from the line. Senior guard Malik Draper scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half for Ursinus, which overcame 19 turnovers – and a 23-5 deficit in points off turnovers – by shooting 63.2 percent from the field after halftime (12 of 19). The Bears played error-free basketball for the final 12:46.
Rafferty made all six of his free throws and finished with 12 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
Dickinson led by as much as nine in the first half, making seven of its first 12 shots to open up a 17-8 advantage five minutes in. Brown knocked down back-to-back triples to start the game and scored the first eight Red Devil points. LoStracco did the same for the Bears, three of his first four buckets set up by nice feeds from Rafferty.
Ursinus put the clamps on until halftime, holding Dickinson to 4-of-22 shooting after its opening salvo. Continuing to pound the ball inside, the Bears got three baskets and a free throw from Janicot during a 14-7 burst that twice got them to within one. Senior guard Malik Draper's baseline drive provided the final points of the period, putting the home side at a slim 29-28 deficit.
The Red Devils appeared to be gaining steam when Hinnenkamp buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key while getting fouled, the deficit swelling to 44-37. Ursinus, however, answered back with a 9-0 run, punctuated by a 3-pointer from Janicot with 10:39 remaining, to regain the lead and set off a wild finish.
The Bears head to Swarthmore for a Centennial Conference clash with the second-place Garnet, who received votes in the most recent D3hoops.com poll, on Tuesday, February 2.