Overall, Ursinus received balanced scoring from four of its starting five as Matt Fabian (14), Will Furey (17) and Bret Jenkins (10) joined McGarvey in double digits as the Bears (5-6, 2-2 Centennial Conference) handed the Diplomats (7-3, 3-1 Centennial Conference) their first conference loss of the season.
Leading 41-31 at halftime, the Bears saw their lead chipped away to three points by a 7-0 F&M run in which Bryan Teschke (So., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) put in an offensive rebound, Brandon Smith (Jr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) hit a jumper and a free throw, Brandon Chasen (Fr., Potomac, MD/Bullis) laid in a field goal and Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) hit a short jumper to pull the Diplomats to within 43-40 with 17:32 left on the game clock.
However, Ursinus answered as Jenkins hit a three-pointer to ignite an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to push the margin out to 54-42 before Logan Outerbridge (So., Glen Rock. NJ/Glen Rock) hit back-to-back treys to slice the margin to 54-48 with 13:39 on the clock.
McGarvey responded for the Bears stroking a three-pointer to inch the lead back to nine points before Smith connected on a lay-up and Pat Pryzbylowski (Fr., Brick, NJ/Brick) canned a three-pointer to move to within four points at 57-53 with 11:24 on the clock.
But the Bears used the long-ball to begin to put the game away as Nick Shattuck made a three-pointer before McGarvey hit back-to-back treys all in under a minute to take a 13 point lead at 66-53 with 10:03 to play.
The Diplomats cut the margin to four points at 71-67 with 4:51 to play following a jumper by Danny Lynch (Sr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock), but Furey hit a three-pointer as Ursinus held on for the win.
Statistically, the Diplomats dominated the opening minutes of the game as F&M built a 19-10 lead before the Bears closed the gap for a 10-point lead at halftime.
For F&M, Smith finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead five Diplomats as Lynch (10), Wright (13), Chasen (10) and Teschke (12) reached double digits in scoring, while Smith tallied a team high seven assists.
The keys to the game were F&M’s shooting and rebounding as the Diplomats connected on 32-of-71 (45.1%) from the field, including eight-of-24 (33.3%) from beyond the arc, and 10-of-17 (58.8%) from the free-throw line, while Ursinus hit 30-of-54 (55.6%) from the floor, including 10-of-17 (58.8%) from beyond the arc, and 21-of-23 (91.3%) at the charity stripe.
Further, the Bears held a 42-26 advantage in rebounds, including a 32-15 advantage on the defensive glass, to keep the Diplomats’ second chance hopes under the basket slim.
The loss marks the second straight for the Diplomats who dropped a 79-70 game at home to Goucher College in non-conference action on January 6. Historically, the back-to-back losses mark the first time F&M has lost consecutive games since a 79-69 loss at Gettysburg on January 12, 2002 and a 62-56 loss at Lebanon Valley College on January 14, 2002.
Further, the loss sets up a four-way tie for first play in the Centennial Conference, as F&M, Muhlenberg, Johns Hopkins and Dickinson are now all 3-1 in conference play.
Franklin & Marshall (7-3, 3-1 CC) will continue the season on January 11 at home versus Muhlenberg in Centennial Conference action. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.