COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus Men's Basketball team battled it way to a thrilling 90-86 overtime win over Widener on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action from Helfferich Hall.
 
 
With the win, the Bears improved to 4-0 for the first time since the 2003-04 season while avenging a 69-55 setback to the Pride last season. It was the first overtime win for Ursinus since defeating Manhattanville 86-82 at Catholic on January 5th, 2020. Meanwhile, the Pride suffered their first loss of the season as they dropped to 3-1.
 
 
The Bears welcomed back members of the 1980-81 and 1981-82 men's basketball teams that both qualified for the NCAA Tournament with the 81 team advancing to the final four. The members were recognized at halftime of the contest.
 
 
Senior Ryan Hughes continued his blazing start to the 2022-23 season by recording a team-high 28 points behind going 8-of-15 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. He is now four-of-four in scoring at least 20 points in games this season and recorded seven rebounds, two blocks, and one assist. Junior Trevor Wall was equally as dynamic for the Bears by registering 22 points, five points, two steals, and one assist. Freshman Nick Nocito provided a huge spark off the bench for Ursinus as he recorded 11 points behind a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and 3-of-3 from three-point range. Sophomore Cole Grubbs just missed a double-double with 11 rebounds and nine points.
 
 
The Bears struggled from the field in the opening three minutes of the contest as the Pride gained an early 6-2 advantage at the 17:02-mark of the first half. However, Ursinus used a 10-2 run to take a 12-8 lead at the 12:20-mark. The Bears did not allow a Pride field goal for a span of 4:18 and went up 17-11 following a three-point play from Hughes at the 8:33-mark. Ursinus did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the first half as the Pride began to go cold from the field and held an advantage by as many as eight points at 29-21 with 1:45 left in the first half. The Bears went into halftime up 31-26 after the teams traded field goals in the final minute.
 
After some back and forth action to open the second half which left the Bears up 37-31 at the 16:11-mark, the Pride stormed ahead 42-39 at the 14:02-mark with a 9-2 run behind three consecutive three-pointers. Wall responded with a three of his own to level the score at 42 but Widener continued to have success from the field and took their largest lead of the game at 54-49 with 9:37 left in regulation. However, Nocito helped rally the Bears rally to tie the game at 57 at the 7:24-mark from an 8-3 run that was powered by two three-pointers. Widener responded and went up 64-60 with 5:18 left in the second half before the Bears punched back yet again with five-straight points of their own to go up 65-64. Ursinus lunged ahead 70-66 with 3:14 left in regulation which set forth an action-packed final three minutes. The teams traded free throws over the next three minutes to leave the score tied at 74 with 40 seconds remaining. Hughes put the Bears back front at 76-74 with 23 seconds left on a jumper from the left wing before the Pride responded with a jumper of their own to tie things up at 76 with six seconds left. Hughes got a deep open look from the top of the key as time expired, but had his shot unluckily bounce in and out of the rim to force overtime.
 
The teams countered points in overtime which left the game tied at 80 with 2:38 left in the extra session. Hughes delivered yet again with a three-pointer from the left corner to put Ursinus up with 2:17 remaining. The Bears then got a break from a technical foul following a foul on the floor which led to Wall extended the lead to 85-80 from the awarded free throws at the 1:50-mark. Widener countered with a successful three-point play to make it an 85-83 game and senior Kyle Maurer came through on the Bears next possession to bring the score to 87-83. A Pride three-pointer cut the lead down to 87-86 with 41 seconds left before Hughes split a pair of free throws to leave Ursinus up 88-86 with 11 seconds left. With the Pride looking to either potentially tie or win the game, junior Beau Everett broke up a pass to the baseline to get a steal and iced the game with two free throws with one second left.
 
 
Ursinus shot 49.2 percent (30-of-61) from the field behind going 61.5 percent in the second half. The Bears rebounded from a 1-of-8 shooting from three-point range in the first half to go 40.9 percent (9-of-22) and went 21-of-32 (65.6%) from the free throw line. The Bears held a 42-33 rebounding advantage that led to a 15-5 edge in second chance points. Meanwhile, the Pride shot 47.7 percent (31-of-65) from the field behind going 69.5 percent in the second half. Widener shot 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from deep and went a solid 15-of-19 (78.9%) from the free throw line. Widener scored 20 points off 18 Ursinus turnovers.
 
Dominic Dunn was a force for the Pride by leading all scorers with 31 points while adding seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Kenny Lewis posted 13 points behind going 5-of-7 from the field and grabbed six rebounds while Steven Matlack and Kevin Schenk scored 12 points apiece.
 
The Bears return to action on Tuesday, November 22nd as they will host Franklin & Marshall for their Centennial Conference opener at 8 p.m.