HAVERFORD, Pa. – Freshman swingman Matt Williams exploded for a career-high 20 points to spark the Ursinus College men's basketball team to a 95-66 rout at Haverford, its most lopsided Centennial Conference victory in seven years. The advantage grew as large as 41 for the Bears, who shot 55.7 percent from the field and out-rebounded the overmatched Fords, 48-17.
Matt Williams needed only seven shots to notch the best performance of his young career, making five of them and going 9 of 10 at the foul line as Ursinus (11-12, 7-9) recovered in style from a home loss to Franklin & Marshall less than 24 hours prior. The 29-point margin of victory was the Bears' largest in a conference game since an 88-54 whitewashing of Swarthmore in 2009.
Senior guard Malik Draper matched a season high with 20 points of his own, and sophomore forward Joseph LoStracco coupled 15 points with 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year for Ursinus, which shot over 50 percent from the field for the third time in four outings.
Walt Plumlee poured in a game high-tying 20 points and Joe Scibelli added 19 for Haverford (4-20, 2-15), which was swept by Ursinus for the third time in four seasons.
The Bears jumped all over the Fords from the get-go, as Draper scored five points during an opening 7-0 salvo. Haverford was still within striking distance at the 4:55 mark of the half, trailing just 33-24, but Ursinus scored on eight of its final nine possessions of the half to unleash an 18-4 spurt and take a 51-28 lead into intermission.
Haverford scored the first points of the second stanza, but the Bears piled on with a 24-2 run over the next eight minutes that quickly turned the contest into a blowout. LoStracco and Matt Williams each had a three-point play and a personal seven-point run during that stretch, which the big man capped with a lay-up that made it 73-32 at the 11:43 mark. Overall, the Bears outscored the Fords, 40-8, in a monumental run spanning halftime.
Draper finished 7 of 14 from the field and 5 of 6 from the line for Ursinus, also notching four rebounds and three steals. LoStracco turned in a typically efficient effort, making six of his eight attempts from the floor.
Freshman guard Eric Williams hit three 3-pointers to finish with nine points, while fellow rookie Matt Margolis matched him for his own season benchmark. Sophomore guard Brian Rafferty had seven points and six assists, and senior guard Mark Wonderling tallied five points and eight boards for Ursinus, which snared almost as many offensive rebounds (15) as the Fords had total (17).
Freshman forward Paul Cottam connected on the first two field goals of his collegiate career and grabbed four rebounds for the Bears.
Ursinus will honor Draper and Wonderling as part of Senior Day festivities before entertaining Muhlenberg in a Centennial Conference contest on Saturday, February 20.