COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus men's basketball team rode a strong first half to an 86-82 victory at Haverford on Wednesday evening.

 
With the win, Ursinus swept the season series against the Fords, improved to 14-8 overall and 7-3 in Centennial Conference play. Meanwhile, Haverford fell to 7-15 overall and 1-9 in conference action. The victory marked the eighth straight for Ursinus in the series dating back to 2022.
 

Sophomore guard Jamie Murphy paced the Bears' offense, scoring a team-high 20 points while adding three rebounds. Senior Mohamed Toure recorded 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor, while junior Luke Nieman tallied 13 points, two assists and two steals.
 

Ursinus jumped out to an early 6-0 advantage at the 18:08 mark as junior Matthew Field and Murphy connected on baskets, while Niemann knocked down a pair of free throws. After Haverford answered with a 3-pointer, senior guard Nick Nocito corralled an offensive rebound and hit a step-back triple to push the Bears' lead to 9-3. Haverford responded with five straight points, but baskets by sophomore Porter Kelly, Murphy and Niemann extended the Bears' lead to 15-8 with 11:51 remaining in the first half. Both teams traded 3-pointers until Nieman, and Murphy combined for five straight points to give Ursinus a 29-21 advantage with 6:43 remaining. After a basket by the Fords, Ursinus closed the half on a 9-7 run to take a 38-30 halftime lead.
 

Both teams' offenses heated up in the second half, with Haverford connecting on three straight triples to cut the Bears' lead to 49-47 with 14:56 remaining. Kelly followed with a tip-in and then drained a 3-pointer on Ursinus' ensuing possession to extend the lead to 54-49.
 

Haverford scored on each of its next two possessions, but Ursinus answered with a triple from Murphy and a layup by Toure to stretch its advantage to 61-53 with 10:37 to play. The Bears maintained at least a two-possession lead until a 6-0 run increased their cushion to 75-65 with 4:52 remaining. First-year Tomas Belaiter and Murphy each connected on layups down the stretch, while Ursinus closed out the contest at the free-throw line to secure the 86-82 victory.
 

Ursinus shot 50% (28-of-56) from the floor, 28.6% (6-of-21) from beyond the arc and 77.4% (24-of-31) at the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Fords shot 50% (33-of-66) from the field, 35.5% (11-of-31) from deep and just 33.3% (5-of-15) at the line. The Bears held a 42-34 advantage in points in the paint and a 40-29 edge in rebounds. Gaven Marr led the Fords with 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
 
 
The Bears return to action Saturday, February 14, as they travel to Swarthmore for a Centennial Conference matchup starting at 3 p.m.