COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's basketball team finally had one fall their way on Wednesday night, as the Bears (6-10, 3-6 Centennial) nipped Muhlenberg (8-8, 4-5 Centennial) 67-66 in Centennial Conference play.
The Bears got balanced scoring in the win, with sophomore forward Jon Ward (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) and sophomore guard Matt Donahue (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) each scoring 13, while freshman guard Jesse Krasna (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) added in 12. Sophomore forward Kevin Janowski (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt) added in 11.
For Muhlenberg, the Mules got points from just four players, led by freshman guard Austin Curry's game-high 24 points. Junior forward Spencer Liddic and freshman center Kevin Hargrove each had 15 points, with senior guard Evan Tozer scoring 12.
Leading by as much as 15 points in the first half, Ursinus saw Muhlenberg pull off a 15-3 run to start the second half to pull to within one at 40-39 on a three-pointer by Curry. Curry hit three of his three-pointers during the run.
A jumper by Liddic with 14:01 left in regulation gave Muhlenberg its first lead at 46-44. Ursinus regained the lead at 49-46 on a layup and foul shot by Krasna with 11:23 left. Ursinus would keep that lead until Muhlenberg tied the score on a pair of foul shots by Krasna with 4:25 left, making the score 57-all.
Following two more foul shots by Liddic with 3:39, Ursinus made four straight foul shots to take a 63-59 lead.
Trailing 65-64 with 1:42 left, Muhlenberg had two chances to score but missed two jumpers. On their final possession after two key foul shots from junior guard J.J. Rapczynski (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley) with 20 seconds left, Muhlenberg sophomore guard Matt O'Hara attempted a three, which was rebounded by Tozer.
Tozer then fired a shot from the left arc, but, was ruled a two-pointer since his foot was over the line. Ursinus then inbounded the ball and the game was over.
Muhlenberg had a slim 33-32 lead on the glass, with Liddic grabbing a game-high nine for Muhlenberg. Ward had seven for Ursinus.
Ursinus hosts Swarthmore on Saturday afternoon at 3.