Shoremen Best Bears 85-84 Behind Breslin's 22 Points

CHESTERTOWN, MD – Sophomore guard/forward guard Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) scored a team-best 22 points including the game-clinching free throws with 3.3 seconds left as host Washington College downed visiting Ursinus, 85-84, on Wednesday evening at the Cain Athletic Center in Centennial Conference men's basketball action. The Shoremen improve to 12-9 overall and 10-7 in the conference, while the Bears fall to 14-10 and 10-7 respectively. With the victory, Washington clinches a spot in the Centennial Conference Tournament for the first time since 2006.

Washington entered the second half with a 40-32 lead, but Ursinus used a 18-6 run to take its biggest lead of the second half at 50-46 with 14:16 remaining. The Bears took their first lead since the 2:53 mark in the opening half on a three-pointer by Keith Page with 15:38 to go. The Bears closed the run with a triple by Kevin McGarvey with 14:16 left on the clock.

The Shoremen would answer the Bears' rally with a 27-12 run over the next 9:27 seconds to take biggest lead of the night at 73-62 with 4:49 to go on a fast-break lay-in by senior forward Alan Kines (Towson, MD/Towson). Washington regained the lead at 54-53 with 11:06 left on a layup by sophomore forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic). The Shoremen would score the next seven points to extend the lead to 61-53 with 8:42 to go on a jumper by sophomore guard Doug Holcombe (Medford, NJ/Shawnee). Naymick would net a trifecta to restore the lead to eight points at 65-57 with 7:41 to go in the game. A fast-break layup by senior guard/forward Andrew Chambers (Williamsport, MD/St. Maria Goretti) with 6:29 remaining gave WC its first double-digit lead of the night at 69-59. Kines lay-up with 4:49 to go pushed the lead to 73-62, the biggest cushion of the night for the hosts.

Ursinus would storm back going on a 14-5 spurt to shorten Washington's lead to 78-76 with 1:47 to go in the game following two free throws by Remy Cousart. Ursinus used three free throws to ignite the run to cut the Shoremen lead to 73-65 with 4:40 left. Cousart would can a three and the Bears got within six of the Shoremen at 76-70 with 3:36 on the clock. After a jumper by Breslin gave WC a 78-71 lead with 2:18 to go, Matt Hilton splashed a trifecta to cut the lead to 78-74 with 1:58 left. WC turned it over on the next possession and the Bears got the ball where Cousart was fouled and hit the two freebies.

On Washington's next possession, Chambers rebounded a miss, nailed the putback layup and was fouled. He would go to the charity stripe and hit the shot to complete the conventional three-point play and put WC up 81-76 with 1:15 remaining. After a Shoremen miss on a jumper, Cousart grabbed the board, drew a foul and cashed in on both free throws to reduce the lead to 81-78. Nine ticks later Ursinus committed an intentional foul and Kines made one of two from the line to push the lead to 82-78 with 22.6 seconds to go. Due to the intentional foul, WC kept the ball, but the Shoremen missed both from the line and the Bears grabbed the rebound. After a Cousart layup made it 82-80 with 11 seconds left, Ursinus fouled Chambers. Chambers netted one of two from the stripe to make it 83-80 with eight seconds to go. Cousart would hit one of two from the line to trim the lead to 83-81 with 4.3 ticks left on the clock. Breslin was fouled after he grabbed Cousart's miss and drained both from the line to make it 85-81 with 3.3 seconds remaining. Breslin would foul Hilton on a long three-pointer with four-tenths of a second left on the clock, giving Ursinus a chance to tie the game if Hilton made the first two, missed the third and Ursinus was able to tip it in. Hilton made the first two, but made the third free throw to cut the lead to 85-84. Washington was able to inbound the ball to Kines who ran out the clock and Washington got the win and its spot in the tournament.

In the opening 20 minutes, the game was tied at 22-22 with 7:58 remaining in the first half following a three-pointer by Keith Page. Kines drained a triple to put WC up 25-24 with 4:36 left, but Hilton countered with a three of his own to make it 27-25 with 4:18 to go. Ursinus led 30-27 when WC closed out the final 3:55 of the half on a 13-2 run to take a 40-32 lead into intermission. A fast-break trifecta by Breslin gave WC a 32-30 lead with 2:52 left. Breslin pushed the lead to 38-30 with 1:02 left on the clock when he dunked in transition after he stole a Ursinus pass. Kines closed out the scoring in the half on a layup with 11 seconds left.

For the Shoremen, in addition to Breslin's 22 points, Kines added a season-high 21 points. Breslin and Kines each grabbed nine rebounds to lead all players, while Breslin pilfered three steals. Chambers scored 17 points to give WC three double-digit scorers. Senior guard Scott Hampton (Colts Neck, NJ/Colts Neck) handed out a game-high six assists and totaled a career-high three blocks. Sophore guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield) netted a game-best and career-high four steals in the contest. Washington shot 44% from the floor, 29% from behind the arc and 69% from three-point range. The Shoremen forced 24 turnovers by the Bears, while committing just 14 themselves. WC held a 40-33 edge on the boards.

Hilton had 23 points to lead all players and totaled three steals to lead the Bears. Cousart scored 19 points and dished out a team-high five assists. Jon Ward and Kevin Janowski both netted 12 points and Page had 11 points of the bench to give Ursinus five double-digit scorers on the night. The Bears shot 49% from the field, 47% from three-point range and 77% from the stripe.

Washington had the edge in points in the paint (38-22), points off turnovers (18-12), second-chance points (13-10), fast-break points (11-4) and bench points (19-16). There were eight lead changes and four ties in the game.

The Shoremen, who are now in a three-way tie with Muhlenberg and Ursinus for third place in the Centennial, return to action Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. game at Johns Hopkins in the regular-season finale. A win by the Shormen will ensure them a spot in the tournament semifinal round on Saturday, February 27 at Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster, PA.