Chambers Paces Washington with 12 Points

COLLEGEVILLE, PA – Host Ursinus College pulled away from visiting Washington College in the second half of a 78-67 Centennial Conference men's basketball victory for the Bears tonight in Collegeville, PA. Ursinus improved to 12-6 overall and 8-3 in conference play with the win, while the Shoremen fell to 8-7 and 6-5 with the loss.

The Bears led by as many as 15 points in the first half before the Shoremen reeled off 10 unanswered points to cut the lead to 35-30. A pair of free throws by Jon Ward with 38 seconds left in the period gave Ursinus a 37-30 advantage at halftime. Ursinus shot 52% in the period, while Washington shot just 31%, but turned the ball over 12 times to the Shoremen's five.

Ursinus twice extended its lead to 12 points early in the second half before the Shoremen whittled the margin down to 45-44 on a three-pointer by senior guard/forward Andrew Chambers (Williamsport, MD/St. Maria Goretti) with 12:57 remaining. Matt Hilton answered with a three for the Bears with 12:05 to go to push the lead back to four points at 48-44. The Shoremen scored the next four points to draw even at 48-48 on a jumper by sophomore guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield) with 10:31 to go, but Ursinus then mounted a 14-3 run to open up a 62-51 advantage following a pair of free throws by Ward with 6:45 remaining. Washington scored the next five points to cut the lead down to six, but that was as close as the Shoremen would get the rest of the way.

Ward led the way for Ursinus with 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 10-for-14 shooting from the free-throw line to go along with eight rebounds and five blocked shots. Matt Hilton added 13 points, five boards, and four assists, while Remy Cousart tallied 12 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists. Keith Page contributed 10 points off the Ursinus bench.

Chambers paced Washington with 12 points and four assists, while senior forward Alan Kines (Towson, MD/Towson) had a double-double with 11 points, 11 boards, and four assists. Senior forward James Whall (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) hauled down 11 rebounds of his own to go along with eight points.

Ursinus shot 48% from the field for the game to Washington's 31%. The Bears also held a 53-41 advantage on the boards as they overcame 21 turnovers. The Shoremen committed nine turnovers in the game.

The Shoremen return to action on Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. Centennial Conference game at Gettysburg.