CHESTERTOWN, Md. – The Ursinus Men's Basketball team defeated Washington College 59-57 on the road Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference action.
 
 
With the win, the Bears improved to 11-10 overall and leveled their Centennial Conference record to 7-7. Meanwhile, the Shoremen fell to 4-17 overall and 2-12 in conference play.
 
 
Sophomore Nick Nocito led all scorers with 17 points behind going 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range. Junior Cole Grubbs followed with 11 points behind going 3-of-5 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Grubbs also added six rebounds and two blocks in the win.
 
 
The Bears worked their way out to an initial 8-3 advantage at the 14:34-mark of the first half before the Shoremen quickly tied things up at eight one minute later. Washington College battled back and forth with the Bears over the next five minutes until Ursinus closed the first half out with 12 unanswered points. The Bears held the Shoremen without a point for the final 8:26 of the first half and took a 31-19 lead into the locker rooms.
 
 
Ursinus got a layup from Grubbs in the opening minute of the second half but did not make a field goal until the 10:19-mark when junior Marlin Wise threw down a thunderous second chance dunk following a three-point miss. However, the Bears continued to draw trips to the free throw line and maintained a comfortable lead through consistent free throw makes. Ursinus held a 44-35 lead at the 9:06-mark of the second half until the Shoremen used a 9-2 run to get within two points at 46-44 with 6:13 left in regulation. However, Nocito countered with a pair of three-pointers to fend off the rally and kept the Bears up six points at 52-46. The Bears did not allow their lead to get back to only two points until the final three seconds when the Shoremen hit a desperation three-pointer. A long inbound pass from Nocito to Wise ticked off the final seconds and sealed the win.
 
 
The Bears shot 34.8 percent (16-of-46) from the field after shooting just 23.8 percent in the second half. Ursinus went 5-of-21 (21.7%) from three-point range and a solid 22-of-27 (81.5%) from the free throw line. The Bears held a sizable 44-22 edge in rebounds that led to a 12-4 advantage in second chance points. Meanwhile, the Shoremen shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) from the field and 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from three-point range. Washington College went 73.3 percent (11-of-15) from the free throw line and forced 16 Ursinus turnovers while only turning the ball over six times on their end.
 
 
Ursinus returns to action on Tuesday, February 6th as they will host Swarthmore at 8:00 p.m.