COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – After its Alumni Game went into overtime Saturday morning, the Ursinus College men's basketball team had to hold off a big late run by visiting McDaniel to avoid the same fate.
The Bears kept the scrappy Green Terror at arm's length long enough to skirt a hard charge in the final minutes and hang on for a 69-65 Centennial Conference victory. With the win, Ursinus (12-5, 8-2) extended its streak to seven games, the longest run by the program in a decade, and gave the Bears their first season sweep of McDaniel since 2010.
The lead switched hands several times in the early going, and McDaniel held an 11-9 edge after a triple by Griffin Kirchner. That's when Ursinus kicked its offense in to high gear, embarking on a 16-2 spurt that left the Green Terror (3-13, 1-9) chasing for the rest of the afternoon.
Junior Matt Williams keyed the run with a baseline drive, and McTamney got a friendly roll on a right-wing 3-pointer to put the Bears ahead to stay. After Austin Cannon stopped the bleeding with a bucket for McDaniel, junior Eric Williams Jr. drilled a straightaway 3 off a dribble handoff with senior Brian Rafferty. A couple minutes later, Rafferty forced the Green Terror into a timeout with a strong drive down the left baseline to make it 23-13 at the 8:10 mark.
Freshman Bruce Edwards lofted a perfect pass to rookie mate George Gordon to open up a 27-15 spread before McDaniel started to get hot from outside, hitting a trio of 3s during an extended 17-9 burst that sliced the Ursinus advantage to just 36-32 with just under two minutes to play in the period. But the Bears finished strong, getting a bucket from Quattro before McTamney slipped a pass inside to Rafferty for a lay-in and a 40-32 lead at the break.
The Bears were hyper efficient on the offensive end in the first stanza, shooting 60.7 percent (17 for 28) and dominating the paint, 24-10, with a bevy of uncontested lay-ups against the undersized Green Terror; Ursinus had nine assists to just three turnovers. McDaniel stayed tight, however, with six 3-pointers to match their average output for a whole game.
The Bears' second-half lead held steady between eight and a dozen points for the vast majority of the frame, but the Green Terror put a big scare into the home crowd with a late run. Trailing 60-49 after a one-legged jumper by Quattro with 4:43 to go, McDaniel jumped on an 8-1 run and got within 61-57 on a steal-and-score by Jared Houck with 2:21 to play.
McTamney came up clutch with a turnaround jumper on the next trip for the Bears, and buried two free throws after a lay-up by Cannon trimmed the margin back down to four. The Green Terror closed to 67-65 with 7.1 ticks to play, but Eric Williams calmly drained two free throws with 5.7 seconds left to seal the victory.
Quattro and Eric Williams each scored 14 points to pace Ursinus, and McTamney added 13 of his own. All three made at least 50 percent of their shots; Quattro was 7 for 11, Williams 4 for 6, and McTamney 5 of 10.
Matt Williams and freshman Bruce Edwards provided seven points apiece off the bench, and junior Zack Muredda claimed a season-high six rebounds. Sophomore Shane Stark was held scoreless but managed to collect a team-best seven caroms.
Ursinus shot 51.0 percent from the field (26 for 51), while McDaniel came in at 47.5 percent (28 for 59). The Green Terror were 0 for 8 from 3-point range after halftime, but won the battle in the paint by a 26-14 count with a number of driving lay-ups down the stretch.
Cannon topped McDaniel with 14 points and added five rebounds and five assists. Isaac Ray and Andy Kwiatkowski tossed in nine apiece, and D.J. Harper pulled down ten rebounds to go with seven points.
The men's basketball looks to extend its winning streak to eight with a trip to Haverford on Thursday, January 25.