COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Just one short month ago, the Ursinus College men's basketball team was sitting at 6-10 overall and just 3-6 in the Centennial.
Fast forward 30 days, and Ursinus finds themselves back at an even 12-12 with a 93-86 hard fought win over Washington College Wednesday night
With the win, the Bears put themselves in prime position on Saturday to clinch their second straight Centennial Conference playoff appearance. All the Bears have to do is win and they would be in, as the Bears currently hold a 9-8 conference mark.
Ursinus used the power of the foul line to win this one, as the Bears went a season-best 39-for-42 (92.9 percent). It was a foul shooting exhibition as the Shoremen (7-17, 6-11 Centennial) also shot well from the foul line, going 27-for-30 (90 percent).
The Bears were led by sophomore forward Jon Ward (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) who scored a team-best 25 points and grabbed a game-best ten rebounds. Freshman point guard Jesse Krasna (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) scored 19, with senior guard Matt Hilton (Lewistown, Pa./Lewistown Area) netting 18 points while shooting a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line.
For Washington, junior guard Kevin Breslin threw in a game-high 29 points, including the 1,000th point of his career 1:25 into the game on a foul shot. Junior forward Adam Naymick had 15, with junior guard Sal Schittino scoring ten.
While Ursinus took the lead for good at 8-7 with 16:37 left on a layup by Ward, the Bears had to fend off several Washington charges throughout the game. No matter how big the deficit, Washington always battled back to within one point.
The final charge came with just over five minutes left to go in second half. Leading by eight following a Ward three-point play, the Bears saw the Shoremen get to within one at 83-82 with 3:59 left as Schittino hit a three-pointer, followed by back-to-back layups from Breslin.
A jumper from sophomore forward Kevin Janowski (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt) with 3:09 left gave Ursinus an 85-82 lead, before Washington got back to within one again at 85-84 with 2:42 left on a pair of foul shots by Breslin.
From that point, Ursinus would sink 8-of-10 foul shots to win the game.
Ursinus had a 43-37 lead on the glass, with Janowski grabbing eight behind Ward's ten. Naymick had eight for the Shoremen.