Win Over Ursinus
Wolfe Led Ravens in Scoring (23), Assists (9), Rebounds (6), and Steals (3)
71
Winner Rosemont RCMB 4-5
69
Ursinus UCM 5-4
Winner
Rosemont RCMB
4-5
71
Final
69
Ursinus UCM
5-4
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Rosemont RCMB 28 43 71
Ursinus UCM 32 37 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Ben Gluckman

Ravens Comeback Snatches Stunning Win from Ursinus

Wolfe Leads Team to Tremendous Comeback Win

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Trailing the host Ursinus College Bears by 13 points with 3 ½ minutes to go, the Ravens outscored the Bears 18-5 down the stretch to finish off a tremendous comeback, winning today's non-conference game by a final score of 71-69. The Ravens improved their overall record to 4-5 while Ursinus lost their third straight contest to fall to 5-4.
 
The Ravens showed up ready to play against an Ursinus squad that had a big height advantage over the birds. The Ravens were able to slash through the tall trees early on in the game. A long ball from Kyle Lafferty followed by a Clayton Wolfe layup put Rosemont in front 5-0. Two more downtown hits from Charles Presley and Wolfe would put Rosemont in front by seven points, 11-4. Still ahead by seven points with 13 minutes left in the half, Ursinus would fight back with a 12-5 run to even the score with 9:42 remaining in the half.
 
The teams tried desperately to put some distance from their opponent, but the teams were evenly matched over the next four minutes leading to a fifth tie score, 22-22, with 5:48 left before the break. Things started to head south for the Ravens when the Bears put together a 10-0 run to turn a 23-22 Rosemont lead into a 32-23 Ursinus lead with just under a minute left. Another three-ball from Clayton Wolfe and a last-second dunk in transition got the Ravens back to within four points, trailing 32-28 going into halftime.
 
In the half the Ravens were out-shot 44% to 26% from the field. They were kept in the game by converting four three-point buckets, and shooting 62% (vs. 50% from Ursinus) at the line in the half. A big factor keeping Rosemont close was ball control, as the Ravens forced 11 Bears turnovers, while committing only three turnovers, and getting seven steals vs. one in the opening stanza.
 
A Clayton Wolfe three-point play nudged the Ravens back to within only three points, trailing 34-31 with 18:17 to go. Ursinus found their groove over the next 4:43, as they outscored Rosemont by a count of 15-2 to grab their largest lead of the game, 49-33, with 13:24 left. Still a lot of time to go, but the momentum seemed solidly with the Bears.
 
The Ravens snapped back with a seven-point run to edge back to within 49-40 with 11 ½ minutes left, but the comeback looked like it would fall short as Ursinus would build up a 57-43 lead with 8:47 left and the clock and the scoreboard tilted the Bears' way. The clock continued to tick away, and seemingly the game did, too, as Rosemont still trailed by 13 points, 66-53 with 3:36 left in the contest.
 
From that point, the Ravens defense would go to into overdrive and would limit Ursinus to only three free throws the rest of the way. The comeback was sparked by Kyle Lafferty's three-pointer. Still down by 10 with under three minutes on the clock, a couple of free throws from Jamier Hughes whittled the lead back to single digits, 67-58. Presley was fouled after an Ursinus turnover. He converted one with 2:27 on the clock to make the score 67-59. A steal by Andrew Michaels and a long pass from Clayton Wolfe to Kyle Lafferty resulted in a slam dunk to get the Ravens to with seven points, trailing 68-61 with 2:09 left.
 
Ursinus' next possession ended up with two made free throws, putting the home side again up by eight points, and things looked bleak for the Ravens, trailing 69-61 with 1:58 on the clock. The Ravens' defense clamped down and shut out the Bears the rest of the way. A Zach Gober steal led to an Ursinus foul on Kyle Lafferty. Lafferty stepped up to the line for two key free throws, but both missed the target. Still down by eight points, and with the clock continuing to work against the Ravens, Rosemont's defense worked out another turnover from Ursinus and Wolfe found Lafferty again in transition. According to Lafferty, "When I missed those two free throws, I just had to put it behind me and just think ahead to my next play." That he did. This time he pulled up and buried a three-pointer to get the Ravens to within five points, 69-64 with 1:14 left.  "I knew that if I had a chance after missing those two free throws that I would make a three-pointer," Lafferty added.
 
The tough Rosemont defense forced another Ursinus turnover and Charles Presley came through with a hit from downtown to lift the Ravens to within one possession, trailing 69-67 with 53 ticks left on the clock. A Lafferty foul put Ursinus on the foul line, where Brian Rafferty could have put the Ravens down two possessions. He missed. Both shots. But of course the finish would not be easy, as Ursinus' Zach Quattro got the rebound and the Bears called a timeout with a two-point lead, possession, and only 38 seconds left on the clock.
 
The Bears' Matt Knowles took a shot with 23 ticks on the clock, and it missed the mark, with Mekhi Clemons grabbing a big defensive board. A bucket would get the Ravens all the way back. Wolfe fed another key pass, this one to Presley, who would hit his second consecutive three-ball to not only get the Ravens back in the game, but gave Rosemont the lead, 70-69 (their first lead since 4:34 left in the first half). There were still 13 seconds left on the clock, and all knew that was plenty of time for Ursinus to figure out a play to re-take the lead. A missed layup by Ursinus with three seconds left ended up in the hands of Mekhi Clemons for another defensive board, and he was fouled. Clemons sank the second of two shots to put the Ravens up by two points, 71-69. Continued tight defense by the Ravens led to a broken play for Ursinus as the ball trickled out of bounds. The ball still belonged to the Bears, but they now only had 1.3 seconds to put together a play. After a Bears timeout, Matt Williams had a clean shot from beyond the arc to try to win the game in regulation, but it was off target as the buzzer sounded to conclude what was an extraordinary win for Rosemont as they head off to celebrate the Christmas holiday.
 
Shooting 25.8% in the first half isn't going to win many games. The team only shot 37.1% from the floor in the second half, but it was solid defense and ball control that put them back into the contest after seemingly falling out of it. Scanning the stat sheet, the Ravens were out-rebounded by a tall and physical team by a count of 59-26 (Offensive rebounds 17 to 7). But the key statistics for Rosemont were the turnovers, with Ursinus giving away a big 27 possessions compared to only eight for the Ravens. Rosemont was credited with 13 steals while Ursinus had only two.
 
If there was a "game ball" for today's contest, it should go to Clayton Wolfe. Wolfe continued to pull the Ravens through the darker moments of today's contest, being a consistent spark for the team. He scored a season-high 23 points and also led the Ravens with nine assists, six rebounds, and three steals. He shot 7-for-15 (3-9 from downtown) from the field and 6-for-7 from the line.
 
Kyle Lafferty hit on 6 of 13 shots including four three-balls and scored a total of 17 points. Charles Presley also hit double-digits, scoring 10 points (9 of which came from three three-pointers from beyond the arc).
 
For Ursinus, both Remi Janicot and Zach Quattro scored 12 to lead the Bears. Janicot brought down 16 rebounds for a double-double.
 
The Ravens will savor this win, but need to get back into game mode when they return to action in the Louis Fleming Basinger Memorial Tournament hosted by Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa. The Ravens will play the first round of the tournament when they face off against the Delaware Valley Aggies on Thursday, 12/29 at 8pm at Lycoming. The championship and consolation games will be played on Friday, 12/30/2016. Keep following the Ravens on our web site, on Twitter and on Facebook to determine when they will play, and against which team on the second day of the tournament.
 
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