Last season, the Ursinus College men's basketball team posted its first playoff victory in nine years. Making back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time in a decade, the Bears are hungry to make a deeper run.
Ursinus earned the number four seed for the Centennial Conference tournament and is set to host fifth-seeded Dickinson in the first-round game on Tuesday night. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
Swarthmore grabbed the top seed and hosting rights for the second consecutive season. Tarble Pavilion will be the site of the semifinals and final. Johns Hopkins, which shared the regular-season crown with the Garnet, is the number two seed and will meet third-seeded Franklin & Marshall in the other semifinal.
A year ago, the Bears went to Baltimore for the first-round game and came back with a resounding victory, their first in the CC tournament since 2008. They gave top-seeded Swarthmore a battle for a half, but couldn't keep up in an 86-66 defeat to the eventual champions.
To go a step further this time around, Ursinus must overcome a history that has been cruel to number four and number five seeds – not to mention a playoff field that includes three 20-win and nationally ranked teams. No fourth or fifth seed has ever even reached the championship game, going 0-14 all-time against their top-seeded competition.
Before the Bears can worry about reversing that history, they must deal with a Dickinson squad that nearly toppled Swarthmore in the CC final a year ago. The Red Devils finished 15-10 overall and 11-7 in conference play this season and has four starters back from that runner-up squad.
Dickinson boasts a balanced, veteran lineup with four double-figure scorers. Senior Justus Melton leads the team in scoring (15.2 PPG) and rebounding (7.6 RPG), while sophomore Bryce Allen averages 14.5 points and a team-leading 3.8 assists per contest. Junior Mike Hinckley (11.6 PPG) and senior Moses Romocki (11.2 PPG) are also capable scorers.
The Red Devils are middle of the pack in most offensive and defensive categories, but present problems in certain areas in addition to their experience. Dickinson shoots 37.4 percent from 3-point range, led by Allen's 40.8-percent mark, and block 3.6 shots per game to rank second in the CC. Dickinson made seven treys and got big games from Romocki (19 points), Melton (16), and Allen (15) in a 63-59 victory over Ursinus just ten days ago.
Ursinus has been one of top two offensive teams in the conference all season. The Bears lead the CC in field-goal percentage (47.4) and assists per game (16.9) and rank second in scoring offense (77.5) and 3-point percentage (38.6).
Senior Zach Quattro leads the way at 14.6 points per game, shooting 52.4 percent from the field and just shy of 40 percent from 3. Sophomore Ryan McTamney (13.5 points per game) shoots 50.2 percent overall and 40.2 percent from distance, while junior Eric Williams Jr. (12.7 PPG) leads all CC players with 81 triples.
Sophomore Shane Stark (8.9 PPG, 7.5 RPG) is a rugged presence in the frontcourt, and senior Brian Rafferty dishes out a conference-leading 4.5 assists per game.
The Bears have a big advantage on the glass, where their +5.8 rebounding margin is second in the CC. Dickinson is seventh at -3.1, and Ursinus out-rebounded the Red Devils by a combined 67-44 margin in their two meetings this season.
Ursinus dominated the regular-season showdown in Collegeville, shooting 60.0 percent from the field and getting 24 points from McTamney in an 87-75 rout on January 11.
Should the Bears advance to the semifinals, they would book a rematch with Swarthmore in the semifinals. The Garnet, ranked No. 12 nationally, lead the conference in scoring offense (79.0), rebounding margin (+9.6), blocks per game (5.5), and opponents' field-goal percentage (40.1).
The Garnet boast the reigning CC Player of the Year in junior Cam Wiley, who gets plenty of help from an experienced core that also includes seniors Zack Yonda and Robbie Walsh and sophomore Zac O'Dell and Nate Shafer.
Swarthmore has won seven straight games against Ursinus and has taken the last six meetings in Tarble Pavilion.
The Bears are 9-8 all-time in the CC tournament, including a 1-1 mark in the first-round game. They are 4-5 all-time in semifinal games but have won all four of their championship appearances, the last coming in 2008.
Ursinus and Dickinson are meeting in the playoffs for the second time overall and the first since 2008, when the Bears rolled to a 93-79 semifinal victory in Helfferich Hall.
Tickets for Tuesday's game, and the rest of the CC tournament, are $5 for adults, $3 for kids ages 13-18, and free for kids 12 and under and for students with ID. For complete information, visit the CC Championship hub at the top of this page.