ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's basketball team battled back from a 14-point second-half deficit, but turnovers and struggles from long range relegated the Bears to an 85-77 setback at the hands of the College of Staten Island in its season opener on Friday.
Sophomore Ryan McTamney scored 13 points to lead four players in double figures for Ursinus, which took a brief lead at 65-64 with 4:54 to play before going cold down the stretch in the opener of Lebanon Valley's Rinso Marquette Tournament. The Bears will play New Rochelle in the consolation game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Senior Zach Quattro registered 11 points and 12 rebounds for his seventh career double-double, and sophomore Shane Stark pulled down a career-best 13 boards to go with eight points for Ursinus. Senior Remi Janicot had 12 points, while junior Eric Williams Jr. added 11.
Adeola Latunji led all scorers with 25 points for the Dolphins (1-1), an NCAA Tournament team a year ago.
Darryl Bryant notched 15 of his 17 in the first half for CSI, including a 3-pointer on its opening possession. A jumper by Eric Williams pulled Ursinus within 17-15 midway through the frame, but back-to-back treys by Raymond Savage got the Dolphins kick-started on a closing stretch that saw them lead by double digits for the final 7:11 before coasting into intermission with a 43-29 advantage.
The Bears still trailed by 11 eight minutes into the second stanza before a 6-0 run, which included a bucket by freshman George Gordon, got them within 56-51 at the 10:01 mark. A triple by Eric Williams, a free throw by McTamney, and a basket by senior Brian Rafferty cut the CSI lead to 58-57 with 7:39 left before consecutive hoops by Gordon and McTamney and a layup by Stark handed Ursinus its first lead at with just under five minutes to go.
The Bears' upper hand lasted just 20 seconds before Krystian Kopec put the Dolphins ahead to stay with a 3-pointer. Janicot's conventional three-point play made it 71-70 at the 3:12 mark, but a free throw by Latunji, 3-pointer from Kopec, and three-point play by Christian Taylor put the game out of reach at 78-70 with 1:08 remaining.
Latunji finished 11 of 18 from the floor for CSI, which shot 47.8 percent (32 of 67) for the night and went 8 for 20 from long distance. The Bears, meanwhile, were 40.9 percent from the field and only 3 for 16 from 3-point range (18.8 percent), negating a 50-37 rebounding advantage. Ursinus committed 16 turnovers.
Both teams struggled from the foul line, with the Dolphins going 13 for 26 (50.0 percent) and the Bears 20 for 31 (64.5 percent).
Janicot was 4 for 6 from the field , while Rafferty went 3 for 4 on the way to a balanced line of seven points, six rebounds, and five assists. Eric Williams knocked down three 3-pointers to stretch his streak of games with at least one triple to 18.
Stark chased own six offensive rebounds and added two blocks, two assists, and a steal. Gordon was 3 for 6 from the field, made both of his free throws, and hauled in five boards in his debut, and fellow rookie Bruce Edwards hit a pair of freebies for his first career points.