COLLEGEVILLE – The Ursinus Men's Basketball team put together a complete performance as they dispatched Franklin & Marshall 97-77 on Thursday night in Centennial Conference action at Helfferich Hall.
With the win, the Bears improved to 10-6 overall and 7-4 in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile, the Diplomats fall to 7-11 overall and 4-7 in conference play.
Freshman Sean Neylon paced a red-hot Bears offense on Thursday as he registered a season-high 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and a near perfect 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. Junior Kyle Maurer registered a career-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range. Maurer and Neylon combined to go 10-of-11 from three-point range for the Bears while Maurer added three rebounds along with two assists. Senior Ryan Hughes posted an efficient line of 15 points, nine rebounds, and six assists as he moved within nine points of the 1,000-career point plateau. Sophomore Trevor Wall rounded out the four Bear starters in double-figures with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field while grabbing four rebounds and adding three assists. Freshman Cole Grubbs recorded eight blocks in the contest which is the most in recent single-game memory for Ursinus men's basketball.
The Bears dynamic night in Helfferich Hall began with a fast start as they jumped out to a 13-4 advantage at the 16:07-mark of the first half behind going 5-of-7 from the field in that stretch. Ursinus maintained their advantage over the Diplomats by at least six points over the next seven minutes and led 27-16 at the 10:13-mark. Franklin & Marshall made its biggest run of the night at the Bears with a 16-4 burst to take their first and only lead of the night at 32-31 with 6:17 remaining in the first half. Neylon responded by scoring the Bears next eight points, highlighted by a thunderous dunk, and put Ursinus up 39-34 at the 4:56-mark of the first half. After the Diplomats closed the Ursinus lead down to one point at 43-42 with 3:13 remaining in the first half, the Bears countered with a 10-4 run to send themselves into the locker rooms with a 53-46 lead. Hughes capped the 50-point first half for the Bears with a driving layup as time expired.
Much like the start of the first half, the Bears came out firing to begin the second half as they opened the final 20 minutes on a 9-4 run and took a 62-50 lead at the 17:54-mark. The Diplomats cut the Bears lead back into single-digits at 63-54 with 16:19 remaining in the second half and that would be the last time the deficit would go into single-digits for the rest of the game. Ursinus took full control of the game with 11 unanswered points and went up 74-54 at the 10:33-mark of the second half. The Bears held the Diplomats without a point for a stretch of 5:58 as they missed nine-straight shot attempts. Ursinus amassed a lead by as many as 25 points in the second half and cruised to their 20-point win after not allowing their advantage fall below 18 points after taking their initial 20-point lead with 10:33 remaining in the second half.
The Bears shot 58.2 percent (39-of-67) from the field after shooting a sizzling 68.8 percent in the first half. Ursinus went 12-of-20 (60%) from beyond the arc and just 7-of-13 (53.8%) from the free throw line. The Bears held a 23-7 edge in fast break points and scored 17 points off 12 Diplomat turnovers. Meanwhile, the Diplomats went 39.7 percent (31-of-78) from the field and 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from three-point range. Franklin & Marshall went 7-of-9 (77.8%) from the free throw line and held a 42-37 edge in rebounds that led to a 13-5 advantage in second chance points.
John Seidman led the Diplomats with a team-high 19 points and four assists along with grabbing six rebounds. Omar Nichols added 16 points, four rebounds, and two steals while Josh Parra recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Ursinus will return to action on Saturday, January 29th as they will travel to face Dickinson at 4 p.m.