Release courtesy of Ursinus Athletic Communications
CARLISLE, Pa. – Behind a red-hot shooting performance from the field in the first half plus stingy defense throughout, the Ursinus Men's Basketball team defeated Dickinson 73-67 in the first round of the Centennial Conference Championship on Tuesday night.
With the win, the Bears improved to 13-12 overall and will now advance to take on top-seeded Johns Hopkins in the semifinals. Ursinus has now also won all three postseason meetings against Dickinson in program history. Meanwhile, the Red Devils will complete their season with an overall record of 11-13.
Senior Ryan Hughes led the Bears with a game-high 21 points and grabbed six rebounds along with one assist. Sophomore Trevor Wall tallied 17 points with 13 coming in the first half and freshman Sean Neylon matched Wall with 17 points while adding four rebounds plus three steals. Sophomore Beau Everett added eight key points off the bench after going 3-of-3 from the field and hauled in two rebounds in the win.
Junior Kyle Maurer opened the game for the Bears with a layup on their first possession, but Ursinus struggled from the field in the opening four minutes as Dickinson took an early 6-4 lead despite not making a field goal until the 16:03-mark. The Red Devils extended their advantage out to 11-6 at the at the 15:01-mark before the Bears reeled off seven-straight points to take a 13-11 lead at the 13:11-mark. Neylon keyed the run by scoring the first five points and Hughes finished it with a driving layup. Dickinson responded with a 12-4 run to take their largest lead of the game at 23-17 with 9:35 left in the first half. However, the Bears turned the tide of the contest by closing out the first half on a 20-5 run and took a 43-28 lead into the locker rooms. Ursinus shot 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from the field during that stretch and held the Red Devils to go just 1-of-17 from the field along with a stretch of 6:23 without a field goal.
Dickinson refused to go away in the second half as they opened on a 10-1 run to cut the Bears lead down to 44-38 at the 15:57-mark. Ursinus continued to maintain their lead despite not making a field goal until the 13:12-mark of the second half as they weathered the early Red Devils run by holding them without a point for a stretch of 3:07. Hughes powered his way to four-straight points to put the Bears up 52-41 at the 11:11-mark after a three-pointer from the Red Devils brought their lead down to 48-41. Ursinus then stretched its lead to 59-45 just under two minutes later after the teams traded baskets. Dickinson used a 10-1 run to make it a 60-55 game with 7:40 left in regulation, but Neylon put an end to the momentum with a three-pointer at the 5:56-mark. Neylon drained another big triple for the Bears just over two minutes later to put Ursinus up 66-57 and sophomore Jaiden Jakubowski followed on the next possession with a layup to extend the lead out to 11 points with 2:45 remaining in regulation. The Red Devils made one last charge at the Bears with a 7-1 run to make it a 69-64 game with 46 seconds left in the second half but would get no further. Neylon and Everett each made a pair of free throws in the final minute to preserve the win for the Bears.
The Bears shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the field behind going 62.1 percent in the first half. Ursinus shot 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from three-point range and 61.9 percent (13-of-21) from the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Red Devils shot 34.3 percent (23-of-67) from the field and just 22.9 percent (8-of-35) from beyond the arc. Dickinson went a near perfect 13-of-14 (92.9%) from the free throw line and held a slight 39-35 rebounding advantage.
Ryan Robinson led the Red Devils with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds along with a team-high four assists. Jack Tierney nearly got one of his own of 11 points and nine rebounds before fouling out and Anthony Goeb matched him with 11 points.
Ursinus will now travel to face top-seeded Johns Hopkins in Baltimore on Friday night at 8 p.m. in the semifinal round of the Centennial Conference Championship. Johns Hopkins will host the semifinal and championship rounds.