COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Ursinus freshman forward John Ward (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) had a game and career-high 24 points as the Bears (7-5, 3-2 Centennial) defeated Johns Hopkins (4-5, 2-3 Centennial) 60-54 Saturday afternoon in men’s basketball action.

Junior guard Matt Hilton (Lewistown, Pa./Lewistown Area) had 17 points as the Bears remained perfect at home and won their third straight Centennial game.

For Johns Hopkins, Danny Gergen and Mike Henrici each scored 11.

The first half featured seven ties and three lead changes. Ursinus took its biggest lead in the first half at 17-12 with 8:37 left when senior guard Remy Cousart (Philadelphia, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep) converted two foul shots.

Hopkins would rally back and take a five-point lead with just 1:46 left on a three-pointer by Pat O’Connell. Back-to-back jumpers by freshman point guard Matt Donahue (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) and Cousart would cut the Ursinus deficit to one at halftime, 29-28.

In the second half, Ursinus took the lead for good at 34-33 with 16:14 left on a jumper by Ward. Ward would score 14 of his 24 points in the second half. The Bears built the lead as high as ten points (50-40) with 8:16 left on a basket by freshman forward Kevin Janowski (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt).

Hopkins would again fight back to tie the score at 54-all with 2:07 left on a three-pointer by Gergen. But, Ursinus got a three-pointer from Hilton with 63 seconds left to take a 57-54 lead and never looked back.

Ursinus had a 37-30 lead on the glass, with Cousart grabbing a game-high 11. Cousart also finished with nine points.

Andrew Farber-Miller had eight rebounds for the Blue Jays.

Ursinus will host Gettysburg on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.