Wright's Three-Point Play with 1:20 Left Puts WC Ahead for Good
CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Freshman guard Tray Wright (Baltimore, Md./St. Paul's School for Boys) converted a three-point play to put host Washington College up for good. 59-58, with 1:20 left in the game and edged visiting Franklin & Marshall, 63-60, on Tuesday night in the Centennial Conference Men's Basketball Tournament First Round game at the Cain Athletic Center. The Shoremen, the tournament's four seed, improve to 14-12 overall and clinch their first winning season since 2011-12. Washington advances to play top seed and host #6 Swarthmore on Friday night. The Diplomats, the tournament's five seed, end their campaign at 15-11.
Washington College 63 Franklin & Marshall 60
How It Happened
- In the first half, Washington never trailed and led by as many as eight at 34-26 on a Barry McCormick jumper with 1:26 left. Solomon Mathis capped the first half scoring on a jumper of his own with 1:05 remaining to provide the final points of the half and the Shoremen's lead to 34-28 at intermission.
- The Diplomats came out strong in the second half as they scored 12 of the first 16 points to take their first lead of the game at 40-38 with 15:22 left on a Justin Kupa three-pointer.
- With the score leveled at 42-42, Washington scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 50-44 lead on a lay-in by Austin Allen with 8:18 left.
- F&M would answer with an 8-1 run of its own to take a 52-51 lead with 4:30 left on two Solomon Mathis free throws.
- Down 54-52, Kupa banked in a three-pointer to beat the shot clock to give the Diplomats a 55-54 lead with 2:44 to go.
- Allen responded with a jumper of his own to give Washington a 56-55 lead with 2:18 left.
- After a turnover each way Kupa drove the bucket and scored the layup and was fouled. He would sink the free throw to give F&M a 58-56 advantage.
- On the next possession, Wright got to the basket, got the layup and drew the foul and would can the free throw to make it 59-58 WC.
- After a Kupa miss from three, Wright was fouled with 40 seconds left and drained both from the line to make it 61-58 with 40 ticks left.
- The Shoremen would make two free throws in their next four tries to lead 63-58 with 11 seconds to go following a 1-for-2 trip by Daniel Brown.
- Kupa was fouled on a three-point try with 4.5 seconds left. He made the first two free throws and intentionally missed the third free throw. The loose ball went out of bounds off of Washington to give F&M a final chance to tie the game with 2.2 left.
- Off the inbounds pass, Les Thomas got the ball in the left corner and his three-point try was short and Brown grabbed the rebound to end the game.
For The Shoremen (14-12)
- Logan Bunch (career-high 11 points), Dallas Marshall (nine rebounds and four blocks), Brown (career-best and game-topping four assists)
- The Shoremen shot 35% (20-for-57) from the floor, 31% (4-for-13) from three-point range and 76% (19-for-25) from the foul line.
- Washington outscored the Diplomats in second chance points (13-12), points in the paint (22-16), bench points (28-10) and points off turnovers (7-5).
- The Shoremen had a season-low six turnovers.
For Franklin & Marshall (15-11)
- Kupa (21 points to tie for game-best), Mathis (20 points), McGrath (10 points, two blocks and two steals), Matt Redhead (six boards)
- The Diplomats shot 38% (21-for-55) from the floor, 17% (2-for-12) from three-point range and 89% (25-for-28) from the free throw stripe.
- Franklin & Marshall held a slim 45-43 advantage on the glass.
- The Diplomats had nine turnovers in the contest.
Notes
- Washington downed Franklin & Marshall three times this season, the first time the Shoremen have achieved this feat. The Shoremen won the three games by a total of 11 points.
- The Shoremen bested the Diplomats in the Centennial Conference Tournament for the second time in six tries. F&M won in 1994, 2000, 2003 and 2006, while Washington won in 1999 and tonight. Prior to tonight, all conference tournament meetings between the two were at F&M in Lancaster, Pa.
- It was Washington's first conference tournament win since a 56-53 win at Johns Hopkins in the first round on February 22, 2012.
Up Next
2/22 @ #6 Swarthmore – 8:00 p.m. (Centennial Conference Tournament Semifinal)
- Swarthmore is the tournament's top seed and host for the semifinal and final.
- Winner of Washington-Swarthmore will play the winner of two seed Johns Hopkins and three seed Ursinus in Saturday's final. Hopkins and Ursinus will play the first game on Friday.