A 6-10 senior on Ursinus' NCAA Division III Final Four basketball team, Shema was born in Belgium. His parents are from Rwanda. They fled the war-ravaged country in the 1990s to escape the genocide.

Shema lived in Geneva, Switzerland, before attending Westtown Friends School in Chester County.

"My mother now lives in Rwanda," Shema said before Ursinus (29-2) departed for Salem, Va., and its semifinal meeting with defending champion Amherst (26-3). "I was there this past summer. The war ended in '94. It's a pretty exciting country to go to."

Shema's basketball tale is one of perseverance. He didn't start playing until his sophomore year in high school. Stress fractures in both tibias prevented him from playing his freshman season at Ursinus.

Stashed behind two all-Centennial Conference forwards, Shema didn't start seeing much action until last season. Now he's a valuable member of the Bears (8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds per game). In Ursinus' 79-55 NCAA victory over Gettysburg on Friday, Shema scored a career-high 21 points.

Ursinus coach Kevin Small noted that assistant coach Will Furey said after last weekend's NCAA games that Shema gets better every game.

"We knew he had a long [basketball] journey in front of him when he got here," Small said. "His learning curve hit midwinter this year. He's played at such a high level."

When Shema wasn't playing much he wasn't discouraged.

"I saw it as an opportunity to work harder," he said. "I figured when I was good enough, the opportunity would [be there]. Everyone supported me and knew that my day would come."

Ursinus and Amherst meet at 5 p.m. tomorrow. Washington University (23-6), from St. Louis, and Hope (Mich.) (27-3) play in the second semifinal. The championship game, at 4 p.m. Saturday, will be televised on CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV); there is a consolation game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Ursinus' 6-5 senior Nick Shattuck (22.3 points per game), from La Salle High, the two-time Centennial Conference player of the year, is hobbled with a bruised heel. Also scoring in double figures for the Bears are 6-5 junior John Noonan (Friends Select) at 15.1, and 5-11 sophomore Matt Hilton (Lewisburg, 12.1).

Five Amherst players score in double figures. The Lord Jeffs have won 22 or more games in each of the last eight seasons (205-34).

When Small was speaking earlier this week with Steve Donahue, an Ursinus alumnus who coaches Cornell's Ivy League champion, Small said that Amherst would have finished third in the Ivy League. *