COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's basketball team came all the way back from a 14-point deficit in the final 8:30, but a clutch 3-pointer by Johns Hopkins and an inopportune turnover doomed the Bears to a heartbreaking 77-75 setback in Centennial Conference action.
Kyle Doran led all scorers with 18 points for Johns Hopkins (7-5, 3-2), including the game-tying 3-pointer with 6.5 seconds remaining. As the Bears raced up-court for a potential winner, Austin Vasiliadis stepped in front of an errant pass and was fouled with 1.9 seconds showing on the clock. The graduate point guard calmly knocked down both ends of the 1-and-1 and Ursinus' inbounds pass was intercepted as the Blue Jays wound up on the top side of a wild seesaw affair.
Junior Zach Quattro paced Ursinus with 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting (and 4-of-4 from 3-point range). Senior Matt Knowles scored 13 points, freshman Shane Stark chipped in a career-high 12, and sophomore Eric Williams Jr. added 10 as the fourth Bear in double figures.
Ursinus outscored Johns Hopkins 32-16 in the paint, but it was the deep ball that did in the Bears. The Blue Jays poured in 15 3-pointers, breaking the game open with a long-range barrage early in the second half before going cold as the home side made its move. Five Hopkins players made at least two triples, with Doran (4-for-5) and Vasiliadis knocking in four apiece. Vasiliadis finished with 14 points and seven assists, with Michael Gardner adding 11 second-half points and five assists for the Blue Jays, who won their seventh straight over Ursinus.
Leading 39-33 at halftime, Hopkins went 7 for 8 from distance over the next 11:30 of game time, opening up its biggest lead on a trey by Gardner that made it 49-35 with 17:12 to play. A bucket inside by Ryan Curran kept the margin right there at 70-56 at the 8:30 mark, when the Bears made their move.
Ursinus embarked on a 14-0 run over the next six minutes, eventually knotting the contest on back-to-back 3-pointers by Quattro and Eric Williams, whose corner bucket off a drive-and-dish by Stark leveled the score at 70. The Blue Jays, who misfired on eight consecutive 3-point attempts during the Ursinus run, regained the lead on a shot clock-beating jumper by Daniel Vila, but a pair of clutch free throws by Stark gave the home side a 73-72 advantage with 41 seconds left.
The Bears came up with another stop, and Knowles drilled two foul shots to make it 75-72 with 15.1 seconds to go. But Doran came through with the tying triple, and Ursinus' turnover set up Vasiliadis' winning free throws.
Stark was a force all afternoon for the Bears, making all four of his field-goal attempts. He collected a team-best seven rebounds in addition to two assists and two steals; one of them led to a highlight-reel play, when the rookie tipped away a pass and went in alone for a monster one-handed dunk, Ursinus' first slam of the season. Sophomore Zack Muredda produced nine points and classmate Joseph LoStracco added six.
The men's basketball team resumes conference play on Tuesday at Washington College.
