MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Ursinus Men's Basketball team earned a thrilling 73-71 win over Coast Guard in the first of two days the team will be competing in the Cruzin Classic at St. Thomas University on Friday afternoon.
 
 
With the win, the Bears improved to 5-3 overall in their first game since December 7th. Meanwhile, Coast Guard fell to 5-4 overall.
 
 
Senior Trevor Wall paced all scorers with 25 points behind going 10-of-20 from the field while adding two rebounds plus two steals. Sophomore Luke Nieman added 10 points off the bench to be the second Bear in double figures. Senior Cole Grubbs grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and nearly completed a double-double with nine points plus adding two blocks.
 
 
Ursinus opened the game by scoring the first five points of the game and held Coast Guard without a point for the first 3:04 of the game. After Coast Guard pulled within two points at 7-5, the Bears used a 12-4 run to go up 19-9 at the 12:41-mark behind a trio of three-pointers. Ursinus built its lead up to as many as 14 points at 25-11 with 7:31 left in the first half and continued to maintain a double digit advantage for the next five minutes. Coast Guard cut down the Bears lead down to seven points at 33-26 at halftime to gain some momentum into the second half.
 
 
The Bears worked their lead back up to nine points at 37-28 just two minutes into the second half, but Coast Guard continued to hang around. Coast Guard got within three points at 47-44 with 12:59 left in the second half before the Bears answered with a 9-2 run to go up 56-47 at the 10:55-mark. However, Coast Guard made a 10-3 run to cut the lead down to two points at 59-57 with 7:47 left in the second half. Despite the runs, Ursinus was able to hold onto its lead until Coast Guard leveled the score at 66 at the 4:30-mark following a pair of free throws. The teams traded baskets until Coast Guard grabbed its first and only lead of the game at 71-70 following a layup with just under a minute left in the second half. Wall quickly responded with a layup of his own to give Ursinus a 72-71 lead with 34 seconds left.  In his first appearance of the 2024-25 season, senior Marlin Wise grabbed a rebound following a missed Coast Guard shot and converted 1-of-2 free throws to give Ursinus a 73-71 lead. Coast Guard snatched the rebound off the second free throw attempt, but lost the ball going up for a potential game-tying shot that turned into a turnover to end the game. 
 
 
Ursinus shot 38.3 percent from the field (23-of-60) and just 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from three-point range. The Bears went 20-of-28 (71.4%) from the free throw line and held a 44-38 rebounding advantage that led to a decisive 17-4 edge in second chance points. Meanwhile, Coast Guard went 42.6 percent from the field (26-of-61) from the field behind going 55.2 percent in the second half. Coast Guard shot 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from three-point range and went just 9-of-18 (50%) from the free throw line.
 
 
The Bears return to action tomorrow, December 21st as they wrap up play in the Cruzin Classic against Wartburg at 2:00 p.m.