CHESTERTOWN, Md. – The Ursinus Men's Basketball team held on for a 74-71 road victory over Washington College on Monday night in Centennial Conference action.
With the win, the Bears improved to 9-6 overall and 6-4 in Centennial Conference play while snapping a three-game losing streak. Meanwhile, the Shoremen fall to 4-12 overall and 1-8 in conference play.
Senior Ryan Hughes led the Bears offense with a game-high 18 points with 12 coming in the second half and grabbed two rebounds. Hughes went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and now stands 24 points away from reaching the 1,000-point plateau. Junior Kyle Maurer tallied 16 points behind scoring 11 in the first half and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds, while sophomore Trevor Wall added 14 points, five rebounds, and a game-high five assists. Freshman Cole Grubbs grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, dished out three assists, and posted three blocks in the win.
The Bears came out strong in the first half as they jumped out to an 11-2 lead at the 15:07-mark as they held the Shoremen to start 1-of-8 from the field. A three-pointer for Washington College ended the run and subsequently started an 11-3 run for the Shoremen that cut the lead down to 14-13 at the 12:02-mark. Maurer reeled off five-straight points to put the Bears back up at 19-13 just under a minute later but the Shoremen continued to hang around as they pulled back within two points at 22-20 following a 7-3 burst. Ursinus took a 28-20 advantage at the 7:38-mark of the first half following a three-point play from Hughes plus a three-pointer from Wall, and the Bears were eventually able to stretch their lead to as many as nine points. Down 39-30 at the 2:51-mark, the Shoremen stormed back by closing out the first half with 10-straight points and took a 40-39 lead into halftime which was also their first lead of the contest.
Maurer and Hughes got things started for the Bears in the second half with back-to-back three-pointers to put Ursinus up 45-40 at the 17:47-mark. The Shoremen responded with six-straight points to take the lead back at 46-45 with 15:29 left in regulation before Ursinus responded with a 12-4 run and went back up 57-50 at the 10:44-mark. However, Washington College refused to go away as they used a 7-2 burst to cut the Bears lead down to 59-57 just over a minute later. The Bears worked the lead back out to 65-61 until the Shoremen ran off six-straight points to go back in front at 67-65 with 6:19 left in regulation. Washington College took their largest lead of the contest at 71-67 with 3:14 remaining in regulation but were held scoreless the rest of the way. Hughes started the rally with three-straight points to make it a 71-70 contest before Wall ended up giving the Bears the lead for good with a layup at the 1:40-mark. The Shoremen then missed three-straight shots with one being blocked by Grubbs. Senior Peyton Vostenak drained two clutch free throws for the Bears with 10 seconds remaining in regulation. The Shoremen and Bears both missed the front end of one-and-ones on their next possessions which gave Washington College one last chance to tie. Kedrick Frink saw his three-pointer at the buzzer just bounce off the top of the rim to seal the win for the Bears.
The Bears went 44.3 percent (27-of-61) from the field and 11-of-27 (40.7%) from three-point range. Ursinus went 9-of-13 (69.2%) from the free throw line and held a 42-35 edge in rebounds. Meanwhile, the Shoremen went 44.1 percent (30-of-68) from the field and 5-of-14 (35.7%) from beyond the arc. Washington College held a 44-28 in points in the paint and scored 13 points off 11 Bear turnovers.
Dilyn Becker and Fink each led the Shoremen with 16 points apiece while Fink nearly missed on a double-double with nine rebounds. Tray Wright posted a line of 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals in the loss.
Ursinus returns to action on Thursday, January 27th as they will host Franklin & Marshall at 8 p.m. in Centennial play.