Shoremen Stumble in Conference Opener

WC Falls to Defending CC Champs, 92-72

COLLEGEVILLE, PA . The Washington College men's basketball team dropped its

Centennial Conference opener this evening, falling to defending conference

champion Ursinus, 92-72, in Collegeville, PA. The Shoremen slipped to 3-2

overall with the loss, while the Bears improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in

conference play.

Ursinus jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first half before the Shoremen

battled back to build their own seven-point lead when sophomore guard Dustin

Abbate (Oyster Bay, NY/Oyster Bay) canned two free throws to make it 33-26 in

favor of Washington with 8:08 to go in the half. Ursinus responded with a 21-7

run, capped off by a Brian McEvily lay-up with 2:02 to go before the break that

made the score 47-40 in favor of the Bears. Ursinus took a 49-45 lead into the

intermission.

The Shoremen were still within six points, at 66-60, with eight minutes

to go in the second half, but the Bears then reeled off an 18-3 run. A McEvily

lay-up with 4:26 remaining finished the run and pushed the Ursinus lead to

82-63. The Bears led by at least 17 points the rest of the way.

Ursinus got a game-high 24 points from Dennis Stanton and

double-doubles from Matt Fabian and Mike McGarvey. Fabian grabbed a game-best 14

boards and scored 11 points, while McGarvey dished out a game-high 10 assists

and scored 13 points. Will Furey added 16 points and seven rebounds for the

Bears.

Abbate led the Shoremen with a career-high 18 points, along with a game-high

five steals and four assists. Senior forward David Horvath (Mastic, NY/William

Floyd) scored 15 points and collected six rebounds. Junior guard Andrew Gentile

(Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) added 13 points, while sophomore guard Kyle Stem

(Lincoln University, PA/Salesianum, DE) tossed in 10.

Ursinus shot 53% from the field in the game, while the Shoremen shot just

37%. The Bears also held a 44-32 advantage on the glass.

The Shoremen will travel to Annapolis on Thursday to challenge Division I

Navy at 7:30 p.m. Box

Score