Wolf Nets 25 as Garent Fall in Thriller
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Nick Shattuck netted the game-winning free throw with 7.3 seconds left in the game to lift Ursinus over Swarthmore 70-67 in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action on Saturday. Swarthmore's Steve Wolf registered a game-high 25 points, going 8-for-11 from the free-throw line. Ian McCormick chipped in with 15 points and eight rebounds in the losing effort.
Shattuck scored 21 of his team-high 23 points in the second half, including 13 in the final seven minutes of the game to help the Bears (10-6, 7-2 CC) erase a 15-point deficit and defeat the Garnet (7-10, 4-6 CC) for the second time this season.
The Bears' John Noonan secured the victory with the final two free throws of the game, finishing with 15 points. Will Furey and Matt Fabian were also in double figures, scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Ursinus.
The Garnet opened up the second half on blistering pace, clicking off an 11-1 run mid-way thru to assume its largest lead of the night, 51-36, at 11:05. Wolf accounted for seven of the points in the spurt. Swarthmore held a 56-46 with 7:57 remaining in the game, but the momentum quickly changed and Ursinus steadily made its comeback.
The Bears forced two quick Garnet turnovers, allowing Shattuck to go to the line for one and setting up Fabian's layup to make it 58-53. After an Ursinus timeout, Shattuck made it a two-point game with a three-pointer.
McCormick's layup put Swarthmore up 60-56, but Shattuck connected on two from the charity stripe and Noonan got a basket after a steal to knot the game at 60-all.
Furey nailed a jumper just inside the arc at 63-61 and McCormick completed a three-point play with a jumper and free throw at the 1:43 mark for a 64-63 lead.
Over the next 45 seconds, Shattuck sandwiched two jumpers in between a lay-up from Swarthmore junior guard Matt Kurman for a 67-66 advantage. Wolf got fouled shooting a three-pointer and made the middle shot for the game's eight tie at 67-all.
With the game tied, Shattuck was fouled and made the second of two shots from the charity stripe while Noonan added two more from the line with less than a second on the clock to give Ursinus its seventh conference.
The Bears started the game with a 4-2 lead on two baskets from Furey, but went on an 11-4 spurt to take the lead that would not relinquish in the half. Garnet senior captain Chris Casey made his shot from behind the arc and Wolf recorded the next eight points on his own to make it 13-7 with 10:46 remaining.
Ursinus battled back and knotted the game at 21-all after Noonan got two from the line and Remy Cousart drained a three-pointer.
Casey made the steal and drove in for the lay-up to give Swarthmore a 25-23 edge with 2:32 left. From there, the Garnet went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and Matt Allen recovered from two missed shots to make a lay-up at the buzzer for a 31-25 halftime lead.
Wolf shot 8 of 13 from the field and 8 of 11 from the line to tally his second-highest point total of the season. Casey added eight points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal in 39 minutes
The Garnet return to action on Wednesday at Washington. Game time is 7:30 p.m.