1st Round (at Haverford): #4 Haverford d. #5 Johns Hopkins, 71-53
Semifinal (at Franklin & Marshall): #2 Ursinus d. #3 Gettysburg, 87-72
Semifinal (at Franklin & Marshall): #1 Franklin & Marshall d. #4 Haverford, 73-71
Final (at Franklin & Marshall): #2 Ursinus d. #3 Franklin & Marshall, 72-70

LANCASTER, PA - Will Furey hit a lay-up with 2.7 seconds left on the clock and Brandon Smith's (Jr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) 35-foot attempt rolled went off the rim as the #2 seed Ursinus College Bears upset #1 seed Franklin & Marshall College 72-70 in the 2005 Centennial Conference men's basketball title game.

In a game in which neither team led by more than five points at any point, the Bears (18-9, 13-5 Centennial Conference) held off an F&M comeback and a Diplomats' lead as Ursinus led 59-54 with 8:52 left on the clock.

The Diplomats went to work on the lead as guard Adam Leonard (Fr., Muncy, PA/Muncy) connected on a lay-up at 8:40 before making one-of-two free throws on F&M's next trip down the court to trail 59-57 with 8:05 to play.

Ursinus point guard and 2005 Centennial Conference Player of the Year Mike McGarvey pushed the lead back to five points with a three-pointer at 6:51, but Smith broke through the Bears' defense for a lay-up at 6:13 to pull Franklin & Marshall to within 62-59. Smith then hit a pair of free throws at 5:55 to cut the lead to 62-61 before he shook his defender and buried a three-pointer off an assist from guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) to give F&M a 64-62 lead with 5:00 left on the game clock.

The lead expanded to four points as center Dan Lynch (Sr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) hit a lay-up, but missed a foul shot, for a 66-62 margin with 2:05 left.

Ursinus shaved the lead back to two points as McGarvey drained a pair of free throws at 2:46. The Diplomats had a chance to push the lead back out to four points on their next possession, but Wright missed a pair of free throws at the 2:19 mark. On the second miss, the Diplomats corralled the loose ball and called a full timeout at 2:16. When play resumed, Lynch made a lay-up to push the lead out to 68-64 with 1:42 left on the clock,

The Bears fired back as McGarvey and Nick Shattuck hit three-pointers at the 1:25 and :42.5 marks, respectively, to put Ursinus back in front 70-68. Lynch countered for the Diplomats by making a pair of free throws at :18.6 to knot the game and set up Furey's heroics.

The game was a nail biter from the opening tip as Lynch hit a lay-up 34 seconds into the game to give F&M a 2-0 lead. The lead lasted 55 seconds as Brian McEvily drilled a three-pointer at the 18:31 mark to put the Bears in front 3-2. The Diplomats pulled to within a point at 8-7, but Ursinus reeled off a 4-0 run behind a pair of lay-ups by Furey for a 12-7 lead with 15:46 left in the first half.

Franklin & Marshall responded to knot the game at 17-17 and 19-19 before Smith hit a three-pointer at 7:32 and Lynch added a lay-up at 6:18 for a 24-19 lead. Ursinus responded as McEvily drained a three-pointer to start a 7-2 run to tie the game at 26-26 with 4:31 left in the half.

Lynch hit a lay-up to put F&M back in front, but McEvily swished a three-pointer to give the Bears a 29-28 lead at the 4:00 mark. The two teams traded the lead before Smith made a pair of free throws with :31.8 left in the first half to tie the score at 38-38. However, McEvily drained a three-pointer at the first half buzzer to give Ursinus a 41-38 lead entering the locker room.

For Ursinus, McEvily led the way with 23 points off eight-of-13 shooting, including five-of-six from beyond the arc, while McGarvey added 20 points on six-of-10 from beyond the arc and two-of-two at the charity stripe with a game high five assists. Furey chipped in 12 points, Nick Shattuck tallied nine points and Matt Fabian added six points and 11 rebounds.

The key to the game for Ursinus was the first half performance of McEvily and the second half performance of McGarvey.

In the first half, McEvily was unstoppable making seven-of-nine from the field, including five-of-five from beyond the arc, for 21 points, while McGarvey drained four-of-six in the second half, all from beyond the arc, and went two-for-two at the free throw line for 14 second half points.

As a team, Ursinus was on from beyond the arc as the Bears connected on 12-of-23 from long range (52.2%), including seven-of-11 in the first half (63.6%), and eight-of-10 at the free throw line.

For F&M, Smith and Lynch led the way scoring 26 and 23 points, respectively, as the duo combined for 70 percent of their team's offense in the game.

Smith, who connected on nine-of-15 from the field, three-of-six from beyond the arc and five-of-five from the charity stripe, added five rebounds, three steals and one assist in 36 minutes. Lynch connected on 10-of-15 from the field and three-of-four at the free throw line while adding a team high 10 rebounds and three steals in 39 minutes as he combined with Smith to shoot 19-of-30 from the field.

No other Diplomat scored more than four points as Wright, point guard Logan Outerbridge (So., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock), forward Bryan Teschke (So., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) and forward Josh Fogg (Jr., Merrimacport, MA/Cushing Academy) tallied four points, while Leonard added three points and guard Brandon Chasen (Fr., Potomac, MD/Bullis) tallied two points.

The key to the game was F&M's poor shooting performance from beyond the arc as the Diplomats connected on only three-of-16 (18.8%) from long range.

The game was a marked change from the two teams regular season meeting in Mayser as the Diplomats rolled to a 91-60 victory over the Bears on February 5 to marked the most lopsided win for Franklin & Marshall since the Diplomats downed McDaniel College 86-49 on February 18, 2004. In addition, it marked the second straight rout of the Bears in Mayser as Ursinus fell 108-71 on January 10, 2004.

The title game loss marked F&M's second to Ursinus as the Diplomats fell 96-88 in overtime in Collegeville in the 2003 title tilt.