COLLEGEVILLE, PA - Ursinus College point guard Mike McGarvey scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Bears past Franklin & Marshall College 75-59 in Centennial Conference men's basketball.
Overall, McGarvey knocked down seven-of-13 from the field, including five-of-10 from beyond the arc, and two-of-two at the free throw line while dishing out six assists and grabbing five steals as the Bears (15-4, 11-1 Centennial Conference) stayed one game in front of Johns Hopkins University for first place in the Centennial Conference standings.
Ursinus took an early 5-0 lead in the game as Will Furey made a lay-up and McGarvey drained a three-pointer before the Diplomats (9-10, 4-8 Centennial Conference) stormed back to cut the lead to 12-10 with 12:51 left in the first half.
Trailing 20-14 with 9:21 left until halftime, F&M trimmed the lead back to two points as forwards Bryan Teschke (Jr., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) and Brandon Smith (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) connected on baskets before the Bears engineered a 17-10 run to close out the first half and carry a 37-28 lead into halftime.
The Diplomats were unable to overcome the deficit as Ursinus improves to 29-74 all-time against Franklin & Marshall since the series began in 1915.
Furey added 11 points and eight rebounds for Ursinus, while Brian McEvily chipped in 12 points and Matt Fabian tacked on seven points and 17 rebounds as the Bears remain a game up on Johns Hopkins (14-4, 10-2 Centennial Conference) for first place.
For F&M, Smith and Teschke led the way with 15 points apiece, while Mantas Paulauskas (So., Parry Hall, MD/Our Lady of Mt. Carmel) came off the bench to add 13 points. In addition to his points, Smith added 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block as he continued his assault on the Franklin & Marshall record book as he raised his career totals to 1,445 points, 639 rebounds, 260 assists, 66 blocks and 197 steals as he eclipsed All-America center Steve Juskin '04 (1,444) for sixth on the all-time scoring list at the College.
Further, Smith is now tied with All-America guard Duran Searles '04 for seventh on the College's career steals list and is within 61 points of surpassing All-America guard Jeremiah Henry '96 (1,505) for fifth on the career scoring list.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on February 1 at home versus Gettysburg College. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.
