Shelton Scores 18 Points To Set Personal-Best

CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Senior forward Sean Flanigan (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) scored a career-best and game-high 24 points and was one of four players to grab a game-topping six rebounds as host Washington College bested visiting Ursinus 94-85 on Saturday afternoon in a Centennial Conference men's basketball game at the Cain Athletic Center.  The Shoremen improve to 4-19 overall and 4-12 in the Centennial with the win, while the Bears drop to 9-14 and 6-10 respectively.

Ursinus came out strong and took a 14-9 lead with 13:57 to go in the first half on a Malik Draper jumper in the paint.  Washington responded with a 17-6 run, including the final nine points of the spurt, to take a 26-20 lead with 8:07 left in the half on a lay-in by freshman guard Tas Dixon (Ardmore, Pa./Harriton).  During the run, the Shoremen took the lead for good with 9:18 to go in the stanza on a three-pointer by freshman guard Joey Shelton (Garnet Valley, Pa./Church Farm School) at 23-20.  After the Bears scored five unanswered points to cut the Shoremen lead to 26-25 with 7:25 remaining on a Matt Knowles triple, the Shoremen closed out the half on a 19-12 run to take a 45-37 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the Shoremen came out strong and used a 17-8 run to take their biggest lead of the contest at 62-45 with 14:54 left in the game on a Shelton three.  The Bears would counter with a 15-2 run of their own to cut the Washington lead to four points at 64-60, but Ursinus would be unable to draw any closer.  Washington would counter with an 11-4 run to take a 75-64 lead with 7:20 left on a triple from junior forward Pat Morgan (Havertown, Pa./Haverford).  During the run, Morgan scored the team's final six points on a pair of threes in a 46-second span.  The Bears would get the game within five on two occasions, the last time being at 80-75 with 2:49 left on a Draper basket, but Washington made a field goal and went a perfect 12-for-12 from the foul line in the final 1:44 to secure the victory.

Three other Shoremen joined Flanigan, who had a pair of blocks to lead all players, in double figures in points.  Shelton set a career-high with 18 points, while junior forward Dave Knox (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South) had 16 points and Dixon netted 10.  Knox, who had a contest-best three steals, tied Flanigan for game-high in rebounds with six.  Morgan handed out a team-high and personal-best five assists for Washington.  The Shoremen shot a season-best 50% from the field (27-for-54), 50% from behind the arc (11-for-22), which tied the season high and shot a season-topping 91% from the foul line (29-for-32).  WC turned it over just nine times in the win.

Knowles scored 22 points to lead the Bears, while Remi Janicot and Brian Rafferty each added 12 points for Ursinus.  Rafferty handed out a game-best nine assists for Ursinus who held a 34-24 advantage on the boards.  The Bears shot 53% from the floor (28-for-53), 40% from three-point land (8-for-20) and 78% at the free throw stripe (21-for-27).  Ursinus coughed the ball up 16 times in the loss.

The Shoremen outscored the Bears in points off of turnovers (27-13), transition points (10-0) and bench points (37-23), while Ursinus outscored Washington in points in the paint (40-28) and second-chance points (8-4). 

The Shoremen conclude the home portion of their schedule on Wednesday night with an 8:00 p.m. Centennial Conference game versus visiting Swarthmore.