SCRANTON, Pa. – An aggressive yet controlled approach paid dividends for the Ursinus College men's basketball team in a 93-75 victory over Hartwick in the consolation game of the Scranton Invitational.
The Bears (2-2) committed a season-low six turnovers and dished out 19 assists while getting to the foul line at a rate three times that of the Hawks. Junior wing Ryan McTamney was on fire for Ursinus, pouring in a career-high 29 points to garner all-tournament team honors.
Junior Shane Stark produced a career-high 19 points and nine rebounds after an 18-point, 8-rebound effort in Saturday's loss to St. Lawrence, and senior Eric Williams Jr. canned five more 3-pointers en route to scoring 18 points of his own.
This one was all about McTamney, who shouldered the bulk of the offensive load in keeping Hartwick (1-3) at arm's length with 15 first-half markers. The junior sank four consecutive free throws to give the Bears a 23-19 lead, then answered a Hawks mini-run with a slashing drive to make it 25-24.
Hartwick looked to break out before the half and seized a 31-27 upper hand, but McTamney knotted the spread at 31-31 before getting a little help from the Ursinus bench. Sophomore Lucas Olshevski gave the Bears the lead for good with a free throw, and freshman Ryan Hughes buried a 3-pointer, then set up a layup by Olshevski with a nice find. Sophomore George Gordon's jumper polished off a 12-0 run and helped Ursinus take a 39-34 lead into the break.
McTamney stayed hot to open the second stanza, burying another triple to extend the margin to eight. After the Hawks got back within one at 42-41, Stark scored inside and Williams connected from long range after a steal by junior Jake O'Neill to put Ursinus ahead 47-41.
Another jumper by Gordon, a free throw from Hughes, and a basket by Stark answered a Hartwick burst and made it 52-44 at the 14-minute mark. The Hawks sliced it to 52-49, but back-to-back three-point plays by McTamney and Gordon – who stifled the momentum and opened up a nine-point lead at 58-49 with 11:21 remaining.
McTamney's 3-pointer gave the Bears a double-digit advantage, and the prolific swingman added another three-point play to hand Ursinus a 64-51 edge just shy of the 10-minute mark. Hartwick got no closer than nine the rest of the way.
Stark finished 9-of-16 from the field and added four assists and a block to his stat line. McTamney was 9-of-18 and drilled all eight of his foul shots in addition to snaring seven rebounds, while Williams drained five of his eight attempts from beyond the arc as part of a 6-for-10 overall showing.
Sophomore Bruce Edwards registered eight points, four rebounds, three assists, and three blocks in another all-around effort, while Gordon paired seven points with eight boards.
Ursinus owned a 22-5 advantage in points off turnovers, facilitated in large part by 13 fast-break points. The Bears controlled a 44-37 edge on the glass and attempted 25 free throws to just eight for the Hawks.
The men's basketball team opens Centennial Conference play Tuesday night at home against Haverford.