COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus Men's Basketball team was edged 75-72 by Muhlenberg on Wednesday night at Helfferich Hall in Centennial Conference play.
 
 
Both senior Trevor Wall and sophomore Nick Nocito scored 21 points to lead all scorers on the floor. Wall added five rebounds and two assists while Nocito made five three-pointers along with dishing out two assists. Sophomore Mohamed Toure tallied 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.
 
 
Ursinus jumped out to a 5-2 lead just 2:11 into the contest as the teams traded baskets in the early going. The Bears led 9-8 before the Mules used an 11-3 run to go up 19-12 at the 10:35-mark of the first half. Muhlenberg continued to stay hot from the field and extended their lead out to as many as 13 points at 29-16 with 5:21 left in the first half. Ursinus used a 10-2 run to get within five points at 31-26 with 2:56 left in the first half before the Mules made four of their next five baskets down the stretch to maintain a 40-32 lead at halftime.
 
 
Muhlenberg made the first basket of the first half to go up 42-32, but the Bears rallied with an 11-2 run to get within one point at 44-43 with 16:49 left in the second half. The Mules used five straight points to go up 49-43 before Ursinus got within two points at 52-50. With the Mules up 55-50, the Bears used an 8-2 burst to go up 58-57, their first lead since being up 9-8 in the first half. From there, neither team was able to stretch a lead by more than two points until a three-pointer put Muhlenberg up 73-69 with 2:35 left in regulation. Nocito hit a corner three-pointer off a second chance with 38 seconds remaining to pull Ursinus within 73-72. Ursinus forced a shot clock violation to get a chance to potentially win the game, but a three-pointer from Toure was off the mark in the final seconds that locked up the win for the Mules.
 
 
The Bears shot 42.4 percent (28-of-66) from the field and 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from three-point range. Ursinus shot just 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from the free throw line and held a 37-34 edge in rebounds that led to a 15-4 advantage in second chance points. Meanwhile, the Mules shot 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the field and 50 percent (11-of-22) from three-point range. Muhlenberg shot 70 percent (14-of-20) from the free throw line and had all five starters in double-figures for scoring.
 
 
Ursinus returns to action on Saturday, January 20th as they will host McDaniel at 1:00 p.m.