COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Behind an impressive first half, the Ursinus men's basketball team cruised to an 87-72 road victory Wednesday evening against Muhlenberg College inside Memorial Hall.
With the victory, Ursinus improved to 10-6 overall and 3-1 in Centennial Conference play. Meanwhile, the Mules fell to 9-7 on the season and 2-2 in conference action.
Senior forward
Mohamed Toure highlighted the win by becoming the 32nd player in men's basketball program history to surpass the 1,000-point mark. He finished with a game-high 19 points and three rebounds. Sophomore
Jamie Murphy added 17 points, three rebounds, and two assists, while junior
Luke Nieman chipped in 15 points. Senior
Nick Nocito recorded 12 points and five assists for the Bears.
Ursinus jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as Murphy connected on a layup at the 19:05 mark. After a 7-2 run, Nieman knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and a layup to extend the Bears' lead to 17-5, prompting a Muhlenberg timeout with 14:52 remaining. Both defenses limited scoring over the next four minutes until first-year
Jasper Buck and Toure combined for three 3-pointers to give Ursinus a 29-14 advantage with 8:46 left in the half. Muhlenberg answered with a 3-pointer out of a timeout, but Nieman responded with a fading triple from the corner to keep the Bears' lead at 15. Sophomore
Porter Kelly and Nocito combined for the next six points as Ursinus built a 38-20 lead with four minutes remaining. The Bears closed the half on a 9-6 run to take a 47-26 lead into the break.
Muhlenberg opened the second half with a 3-pointer at the 19:38 mark, sparking an 11-2 run that cut the deficit to 49-37 with 15:15 remaining. Following an Ursinus timeout, Nocito connected on a free throw and assisted first-year
Tomas Belaiter on a fast-break basket to push the lead to 52-40. After a Muhlenberg layup, Nocito responded with a three-point play to make it 57-42. With 9:45 remaining, junior
Matthew Field scored off an offensive rebound, then Toure secured a defensive board and went coast to coast for a layup to become the 32nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
Both teams traded 3-pointers on the ensuing possessions, with Ursinus maintaining a 66-51 advantage with 8:16 to play. Muhlenberg later used a 6-1 run to trim the deficit to 67-57 with 5:52 remaining, but the Bears answered with an 11-7 run to extend the lead to 78-64 with 2:34 left. The surge was highlighted by Toure, who scored five points during the run, including an old-fashioned three-point play. Muhlenberg cut the margin to as few as eight, but Ursinus closed the contest on a 9-2 run to secure the Centennial Conference victory.
Ursinus shot 60.4% (29-of-48) from the field, 50.0% (9-of-18) from 3-point range, and 80.0% (20-of-25) from the free-throw line. Muhlenberg shot 46.3% (25-of-54) from the floor, 35.0% (7-of-20) from beyond the arc, and 78.9% (15-of-19) at the line. Jack Woodward led the Mules with 17 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
The Bears return to action Saturday, January 24th, when they host McDaniel College for a Centennial Conference matchup beginning at 1 p.m.
