COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus Men's Basketball team dropped a hard-fought 69-63 battle to Swarthmore on Tuesday night in Centennial Conference action at Helfferich Hall.
 
 
Sophomore Nick Nocito matched his career-high point total with 19 points to lead the Bears behind going 6-of-9 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Senior Trevor Wall added 14 points and six rebounds while junior Cole Grubbs tallied eight points, six rebounds and four blocks.
 
 
Ursinus kept the Garnet off-balanced early as they took an early 5-0 lead and did not allow a point until the 15:20-mark of the first half. However, once Swarthmore got on the board, they stayed consistent as they reeled off 13-straight points to go up 13-5 at the 12:16-mark. The Garnet built their lead up to as many as 10 points at 25-15 with 7:32 left in the first half, but the Bears continued to stay in the game as they fought back in the closing minutes. They used an 11-4 run to get within three points at 31-28 in the final minute and the Garnet got a last second basket to go up 33-28 into halftime.
 
 
The Garnet scored the opening basket of the second half before the Bears got five-straight points to get within two at 35-33. Swarthmore went back up five points at 40-35 and Ursinus countered with six unanswered points to go up 41-40, their first lead since early in the first half. Wall put the Bears back up by two at 47-45 with a jumper at the 11-minute mark, but the Garnet used a 10-2 run to take a 55-49 lead with 8:08 left in the second half. Ursinus would get no closer than three points in the rest of the contest.
 
 
The Bears shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the field and just 2-of-20 (10%) from three-point range. Ursinus went a near perfect 15-of-16 (93.8%) from the free throw line and held a slight 36-34 edge in rebounds. Meanwhile, the Garnet shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field and 33.3 percent (8-of-24) from beyond the arc. Swarthmore went 11-of-16 (68.6%) from the free throw line and each team turned it over 12 times.
 
 
Ursinus returns to action on Saturday, February 10th as they will host Gettysburg for Senior Day at 3:00 p.m.