Jan. 6, 2007

Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - In a game of runs, Ursinus won the sprint to the finish line, handing Franklin & Marshall a 64-52 loss at the Bears' Helfferich Hall. The loss was Franklin & Marshall's fourth in as many games.

The Diplomats trailed 10, 38-28, early in the second half, but went on a five-minute, 11-2 run to cut the deficit to a single point, 40-39. The Bears' Will Furey halted the Diplomat run, matching Adam Leonard's three-pointer that put the Dips within a free throw, with a three-pointer for Ursinus. Leonard attempted to cut it back to one, but Remy Cousart grabbed the carom and pushed it up the floor to a breaking Neil Shattuck who laid it in to make it 45-39 Ursinus.

Shattuck stripped Rich Rodd on the following possession and set Cousart up for a trey giving Ursinus a nine-point lead. The Bears' eight points were answered by six quick points from Franklin & Marshall, but Shattuck stretched the game beyond a single possession once again with another Bear three-pointer with 6:33 left in the game. The resulting 51-45, six-point differential was as close as F&M would get down the stretch.

Ursinus hit on five-of-12 shots from three-point range, while the Diplomats were able to drop in just three-of-20 treys in the contest. Overall, Ursinus shot 48.9 percent from the field, while the Diplomats clicked at a rate of 35.0 percent.

Shattuck led all scorers with 24 points. He and Matt Fabian each had seven rebounds for Ursinus. Furey accounted for four of Ursinus' seven blocks in the game. Leonard and Derek Hines led the Diplomat offensive effort with 11 points each. Leonard was two-for-four from beyond the arc. Hines pulled down a game-high of 10 rebounds in the loss.

The Diplomats' free throw woes continued at Helfferich with Franklin & Marshall capitalizing on seven-of-15 chances at the line. Conversely, Ursinus sunk 15-of-22 free throws.

With the loss, F&M falls to 4-8, but remains on the upper half of the Centennial standings at 3-2. Ursinus improved itself to 7-5 (4-1 CC). Franklin & Marshall will look to put the brakes on the slide on Tuesday, moving squarely into the thick of the Centennial slate when it hosts Muhlenberg. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m., following the women's meeting between the same institutions.