COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's basketball team traded a low-scoring first half for a prolific second stanza in this afternoon's Centennial Conference clash with McDaniel, getting the better of both to secure a critical 81-67 victory that stretched its winning streak to four. Junior guard Matt Knowles (Waverly, Pa./Scranton Prep) poured in 19 of his career-high 29 points after halftime to steer the Bears' latest impressive performance, and freshman guard Eric Williams (Plainfield, N.J./Hun School) matched him with five 3-pointers.
After scoring 26 points in back-to-back outings against Division I Penn and Rosemont last month, Knowles surpassed his previous high water mark with yet another high-efficiency effort. The junior finished 9 of 14 from the field and 5 of 9 from distance and made all six of his free-throw attempts to continue his red-hot recent play. Knowles, who added four steals, has scored 20 or more points four times during a nine-game streak of double-figure games that has elevated him to the top of the conference scoring charts.
Williams, meanwhile, went 5 of 6 from behind the arc to wind up with 19 points in his fourth consecutive outing with at least four treys. Four of them came in the second half, when the Bears (6-6, 2-3) went 7 of 11 (63.6%) on long balls.
After shooting a cumulative 17 of 52 (32.7 percent) in the first half, the teams combined to go 53.6 percent from the field (30 of 56) after intermission, including a scorching 15 of 26 (57.7 percent) from beyond the three-point line.
For all of the second-half fireworks, the first half was equally tilted to the low-scoring end. Not surprisingly for a contest pitting two teams that needed overtime to get into the 50s here a year ago, the first 20 minutes were largely a feeling-out process. Neither side led by more than five until late in the half, when Ursinus gradually began to pull away.
After the Green Terror (5-6, 2-3) forged a tie at 19-apiece, Knowles canned a left-wing jumper at the 5:00 mark to ignite a run of eight consecutive points for the Bears. Knowles buried a 3-pointer from the left corner on a kick-out from senior guard Mark Wonderling (Lederach, Pa./Souderton Area) to make it 26-19, and Wonderling's put-back with just over a minute to play in the frame lifted the home side to a 29-21 edge at the break. McDaniel missed six of its last seven shots in the first half, scoring just two points in the final five-plus minutes as the Bears secured some breathing room; the Green Terror were held to a 27.6-percent performance from the field (8 of 29) by a stingy Ursinus defense. The Bears were just 9 of 23 (39.1 percent) in the first 20 minutes, but a 10-0 advantage in paint points was more than enough to overcome.
The Bears executed right out of the break, scoring the first eight points of the second stanza as McDaniel came away empty-handed on its first six possessions, a sequence that included three straight turnovers. A well-designed back-door play led to a lay-up by sophomore forward Remi Janicot (Paris, France/Hun School) on the first trip of the period to key the spurt. Green Terror senior Wes Brooks stopped the bleeding with a put-back jumper at the 16-minute mark, but not before the Bears had rattled off an 18-2 stretch spanning halftime and roared out to a 37-21 bulge.
The Green Terror found their footing eventually, setting off a back-and-forth, long-range display over the final 15 minutes of the period. Williams caught fire early in the frame, converting a four-point play to begin a stretch of ten straight Bear points for the sharp-shooting rookie. When Josh McWilliams connected from deep to bring McDaniel within 58-47 at the 6:50 mark, Knowles took the torch from Williams, knocking down three triples and netting 11 straight Ursinus points to make sure the home side was never threatened. Knowles' fifth 3 of the afternoon delivered a 69-52 lead at 3:22, and two free throws at 1:38 gave him a new career high.
Janicot scored all ten of his points at the stripe, where he was 10 for 12, and grabbed seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Brian Rafferty (Harleysville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) handed out a game-best seven assists. Sophomore forward Joseph LoStracco (Chalfont, Pa./Archbishop Wood) collected eight points and five boards and Wonderling chipped in four points, seven rebounds, and three assists for Ursinus, which had 12 assists to just seven turnovers in the second half.
Brooks scored 20 of his team-high 26 points in the second half to lead McDaniel, and Tim Stewart supported him with 16 points and eight rebounds. Despite making eight 3-pointers and shooting 50 percent after the break, the Green Terror still shot just 39.3 percent for the day (24 of 61).