By John Niswander
Senior Writer
Both Washington College basketball teams enjoyed a week at home as each team competed in two Centennial Conference games against Haverford and Ursinus respectively.
On Jan. 31, the Shoremen hosted Haverford for their Go4theGoal Pediatric Cancer Awareness Day Game in order to help raise awareness for pediatric cancer.
The game was a back-and-forth battle, and in the end the Shoremen prevailed on a game-winning three-pointer with two seconds left.
“Honestly it came down to just playing for one another and having each other’s back regardless of anything,” senior Tas Dixon said.
The win over the Fords was WC’s first since December of 2014.
“We never give up no matter how the game is going,” Dixon said.
WC battled back from a 14 point deficit early in the second half.
Dixon finished with 15 points to go along with three rebounds, one assist, and one steal in a team-high 31 minutes of action.
Four of the Shoremen’s five starters finished in double figures scoring. The Shoremen shot 50 percent (29-for-58) from the floor, 43 percent (6-for-14) from three-point range and 60 percent (15-for-25) from the foul line.
Sophomore Josh Porteous was named the Chestertown McDonald’s Shoremen Player of the Game on the Goose Nation TV webcast. Porteous finished the game with 16 points and hit the game-winning three-pointer with a few seconds left to seal the narrow victory.
“We are playing for each other and that is our mindset going into every game,” Dixon said.
On Feb. 3, Dixon scored a career-high 23 points, but it was not enough to overcome Ursinus as the visitors took home an 87-72 win.
Dixon also tallied a game-high nine assists, coming up one short of a double-double on the night. He was named the Chestertown McDonald’s Shoremen Player of the Game on the Goose Nation TV webcast of the game that night.
WC took an early 8-0 lead, but trailed by seven at halftime, 41-34.
The Shoremen attempted 24 more field goal attempts than Ursinus, but only shot 40.8 percent compared to 55.8 percent for the Bears.
The Shoremen have three games remaining on the schedule before the season concludes.
The Shorewomen began the week hosting Haverford on Jan. 31.
Sophomore guard Caitlyn Clark logged a team-high 33 minutes and finished with 17 points, but it was not enough to overcome the Fords who prevailed, 76-48.
“The game did not go exactly how we would have liked it to go. Haverford is a very good team who shoots a very good percentage and we wanted to keep them under their shooting average,” Clark said.
WC only trailed by three points after the first quarter, but the deficit grew to 18 points by halftime.
“We started out great, but then we had some defensive lapses that Haverford capitalized on,” Head Coach Alisha Mosley said.
The Shorewomen closed out the week with a Saturday afternoon game against Ursinus.
The visiting Bears got the best of WC in a low-scoring battle, 46-41.
“It was a tough loss, but our team fought hard until the end. We did a good job defensively holding their team to under 50 points, but their 2-3 zone in the second half slowed us down a bit,” Clark said.
WC led 22-19 at halftime in large part due to a 12-0 run late in the second quarter. The Shorewomen were outscored in both the third and fourth quarters.
Sophomore Cassidy Quattro was named the Goose Nation TV Shorewomen Player of the Game and finished with 11 points, three rebounds, three steals, two assists, and one block.
“We definitely brought more energy and carried it the entire game and that is something we are proud of,” Clark said.
The Shorewomen have just three games remaining on this year’s schedule.
“Our focus for the remainder of the season is getting better every day and finishing strong,” Mosley said.