Collegeville, PA - Ursinus College guard Dennis Stanton recorded a Centennial Conference record 55 points as the Bears upset #14 nationally ranked Franklin & Marshall College to hand the Diplomats their first Centennial Conference loss of the season, 104-92.
Stanton, who is featured in this week's Sports Illustrated as a "Face in the Crowd", keyed the Bears back from a 16 point deficit with 13 minutes to play by making seven-of-15 from the field, including six-of-13 from beyond the three-point arc, while adding a 14-for-14 performance from the free-throw line for 34 second half points.
Overall, Stanton finished the game 13-of-27 from the floor, 10-of-22 from beyond the arc, and 19-of-19 from the free-throw line as Ursinus (12-8, 8-5 CC) stays one game ahead of Swarthmore College for the final Centennial Conference playoff berth.
F&M (17-3, 12-1 CC), which clinched a CC playoff berth with a victory at Gettysburg College on Wednesday, was hurt by foul trouble as point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School), guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) and guard Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) fouled out in the second half.
Leading 69-53 with 13:24 to play in the game, the Diplomats went cold from the field while Stanton heated up draining a three pointer to slice the lead to 13 with 12:31 to go. Following a missed three-pointer by Wright and a pair of missed free throws by center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park), the Bears moved back into contention as Mike McGarvey and Stanton knocked down treys on consecutive possessions to move Ursinus within seven at the 10:23 mark.
The Diplomats countered as forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) finished a feed from Searles to move F&M back in front by nine before Smith put in a lay-up to move the margin to 11 at 73-62 with 9:23 to play.
But the Bears would not hibernate as Will Furey and Matt Fabian knocked down baskets to move the lead back to seven at 73-66. Lynch again countered for the blue and white hitting a jumper off a Searles feed before Stanton canned three treys and a pair of foul shots to give the Bears the lead at 77-75 with 5:36 left on the clock. The lead marked the first for Ursinus since Joe Scholz made a lay-up at the 18:18 mark of the first half for a 4-2 lead.
Following a missed free throw by Searles and a turnover by Logan Outerbridge (Fr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock), Ursinus built the lead to seven as Scholz hit a pair of free throws and McGarvey drilled a trey. Lynch chipped the lead with a one-of-two performance at the free-throw line for an 82-76 Ursinus lead with 3:40 showing on the clock.
However, Stanton took over the game tallying a lay-up for an eight point lead before Juskin made one-of-t wo free throws to move back to within seven at 84-77 with 3:17 to go.
But the half belonged to Stanton who registered a pair of free throws before Scholz finished a lay-up to push the lead to 11 points at 88-77 with 2:14 to go.
Lynch tallied a pair of free-throws to move F&M back to within nine with 2:02 left, but Stanton made four straight free-throws over the next 11 seconds before Matt Fabian put down a dunk to make the margin 94-81 in favor of Ursinus with 1:33 left.
Outerbridge almost brought the Diplomats back by himself drilling a trio of three-pointers, but Stanton and McGarvey combined to hit 10-of-10 from the charity stripe to register the 104-92 victory.
In the first half, the opening minutes of the game were all F&M as the Diplomats rallied from 2-0 and 4-2 deficits to explode to a 20-10 lead 6:49 into the game behind three treys from Searles. Stanton canned the first of his Centennial Conference single game record 10 three-pointers to cut the margin to seven, but Juskin and Outerbridge made baskets to key the Diplomats to a 24-13 lead.
But the Bears showed spunk tallying an 8-0 run behind a three-pointer and three foul shots by Stanton to cut the lead to 24-21 with 9:14 until halftime.
Outerbridge hit a jumper to move F&M back in front by five, but Stanton hit a jumper and a "three" to knot the game at 26 all with 7:27 left.
The two teams exchanged baskets until Juskin made a jumper from the top of the paint for a 33-31 lead. The points ignited a 6-0 run by Franklin & Marshall as Lynch and Juskin both put home pairs of attempts at the charity stripe for a 37-31 lead with 3:10 left in the half.
However, the Bears refused to roll over as Brian McEvily arched in a "three" to slice the lead to three. Juskin hit a jumper to respond to the points, but Stanton drove to the basket for a lay-up to keep the margin at three points with 1:50 to go.
Smith put in a lay-up and free-throw courtesy a foul by McEvily for a 42-36 lead with 1:16 left in the half, but McEvily knocked down a pair of free-throws to slice the lead back to four before Wright rocketed home a three from the top of the arc for a 45-38 lead with 44 seconds to go. The rest of the half was Ursinus as Scholz converted a lay-up and Will Furey finished a missed lay-up by Stanton as time expired for a 45-42 Diplomats' lead at the break.
Overall, Lynch led the way for the Diplomats with 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead six Diplomats in double-digits. Outerbridge and Juskin finished with 16 points, Wright added 15, while Searles and Smith registered 11 apiece.
The victory postpones F&M head coach Glenn Robinson from tying former Illinois-Wesleyan head man Dennie Bridges for the NCAA Division III career wins record as Robinson now stands at 665-234 for his 33-year career.
Robinson and the Diplomats will get their next chance to tie the record at home in the Mayser Center on February 11 versus Dickinson College. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
