COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Senior Ryan Hughes became the 30th player in Ursinus Men's Basketball history to record 1,000 points for their career, but the Bears were downed 77-68 by Haverford on Wednesday night in Centennial Conference action at Helfferich Hall.
With the loss, the Bears drop to 10-7 overall and 7-5 in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile, the Fords improved to 11-8 overall and 7-5 in conference play while avenging a 87-69 loss to the Bears back on Jan. 13th.
Hughes tied for the team lead with 18 points on the evening with 15 of the points coming in the second half. He also added eight rebounds and a career-high three blocks. Maurer matched Hughes with 18 points and grabbed four rebounds, while senior Peyton Vostenak added 15 points off the bench behind going 5-of-7 from three-point range.
Haverford made its first two three-point attempts to take an early 6-2 lead just a minute into the contest. The Fords extended their lead out to 10-4 at the 16:37-mark of the first half before the Bears rallied to take their first lead of the game at 15-12 following an 11-2 run over the span of 2:55. Most of the rest of the first half featured back-and-forth scoring as the lead changed hands six times along with two ties. Maurer put the Bears ahead at 29-28 with 3:11 remaining in the first half which started an 8-1 run to give Ursinus their largest lead of the game at 35-29. Haverford made one last basket in the final minute of the first half to send the game into halftime with the Bears in front, 35-31.
A quick 5-0 run for the Fords put them up 36-35 at the 17:21-mark of the second half and they extended their lead out to 41-38. Ursinus came back with seven-straight points to go up 45-41 at the 14:01-mark of the second half and went up 49-46 following Hughes going over 1,000 career points on a second chance layup. Haverford reeled off five-straight points to take a 51-49 lead at the 11:31-mark of the second half before Hughes put the Bears back in front with a three-pointer. Following the three from Hughes, the lead changed hands four times over the next two minutes. Haverford began heating up from beyond the arc as they took a 59-56 lead off a three-pointer with 8:02 left in regulation. The triple turned out to be significant as Ursinus would not take the lead back for the remainder of the contest. The Fords had an answer for any Bears made basket as they went 3-of-4 from the field down the stretch and made six of seven free throws in the final 1:22. Meanwhile, the Bears went 1-of-5 from the field in the final 5:42 after Vostenak had cut the lead down to one point at 62-61.
The Bears went 23-of-55 (41.8%) from the field and 9-of-24 (37.5%) from beyond the arc. Ursinus shot 68.4 percent (13-of-19) from the free throw line and held a perfect 11-0 advantage in fast break points. Haverford went 27-of-63 (42.9%) from the field and 14-of-32 (43.8%) from beyond the arc. The Fords went 9-of-12 (75%) from the free throw line and held a slight 39-34 advantage in rebounds.
The Fords got a balanced scoring effort as nine of 11 players that appeared in the game scored. Nate Torres led all scorers with 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 3-of-6 from three-point range. Torres completed a double-double with 11 rebounds and added five assists and two steals. Harry Johnson added 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and six rebounds as well.
Ursinus will return to action on Saturday, February 5th as they will take on Gettysburg at 1 p.m.