LANCASTER, Pa. – Turnovers and second-half shooting struggles doomed the Ursinus College men's basketball team to a 63-57 setback at Franklin & Marshall in Centennial Conference action. The Bears held the 20th-ranked Diplomats to just 30.6 percent from the field (19-of-62), but were undone by 21 miscues and an 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) output after intermission as their losing streak in Lancaster reached eight games.
It took Ursinus (1-3, 0-2) nearly six minutes to get on the board, by which time Franklin & Marshall (5-1, 2-0) had already rattled off the game's first nine points. The Bears put the clamps on the Diplomats from there, taking their first lead at 19-18 on a bucket by sophomore forward Joseph LoStracco (Chalfont, Pa./Archbishop Wood) at the 7:00 mark of the first half.
Freshman guard Eric Williams (Plainfield, N.J./The Hun School) connected on a deep triple and senior guard Mark Wonderling (Lederach, Pa./Souderton Area) polished off an 8-0 run that left Ursinus with its biggest lead of the game, 23-18, before Franklin & Marshall responded with seven unanswered points of its own to regain the upper hand and set off a see-saw second half.
The lead changed hands eight times in the first 11-plus minutes of the second period. Ursinus took its final edge on a pair of free throws by junior guard Matt Knowles (Waverly, Pa./Scranton Prep) that made it 45-44 with 8:58 remaining, but Diplomats junior guard Hunter Eggers knocked down a jumper to put the home side in front for good. A few minutes later, Eggers raced down the floor off a Bear turnover and dished to a cutting Matthew Tate, the sophomore guard finishing plus the foul and converting the three-point play to stretch the lead to 53-46 at the 6:16 mark.
Ursinus made one final stand, sparked by LoStracco. The big man kicked out to Knowles for a 3-pointer from the left wing, then muscled his way inside for a bucket at the rim to force the Diplomats into a timeout, now leading just 55-53 with 5:05 left. But Tate took it from there, slicing down the lane for a lay-in and rattling home a triple two possessions later to restore a seven-point cushion. The Bears never got closer than five the rest of the way.
The Bears were stout on the defensive end, limiting the high-powered Diplomats to their worst offensive performance of the young season. Franklin & Marshall, the preseason CC favorite, came in leading the CC in scoring (77.0 PPG) and 3-point shooting (38.2%), but could get little going in the half-court against Ursinus' stingy unit. Sophomore guard Brandon Federici, a first-team all-conference selection a year ago, led all scorers with 14 points but was held to 2-of-14 from the field. Tate added 11 points and Eggers chipped in 10 for the Diplomats, and senior forward Cedric Moune paired seven points with 12 rebounds.
Sophomore forward Remi Janicot (Paris, France/Hun School of Princeton) coupled season highs of 13 points and nine rebounds, while Knowles went 4-for-4 from the stripe en route to 11 points. LoStracco had nine points and six boards for Ursinus, which made only 4 of 18 3-point attempts (22.2%) in losing for the 14th time in 15 meetings with Franklin & Marshall.
Ursinus looks to get back on track on Saturday, December 5, when the Bears entertain Johns Hopkins at 3:00 p.m.