IMMACULATA, Pa. – The Ursinus men's basketball team bounced back with a 73-69 win on the road against Immaculata on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.
With the win, the Bears improved to 2-1 overall as they begin the early portion of their Centennial Conference schedule next week. Meanwhile, the Mighty Macs of the Atlantic East fall to 2-4 overall.
Senior Ryan Hughes posted a double-double behind 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and matched his career-high of 12 rebounds. Hughes also dished out a game-high four assists in the win. Sophomore Trevor Wall continued his strong week by posting 17 points along with tallying three rebounds and two assists. Freshman Cole Grubbs hauled in 10 rebounds and just missed out on a double-double with eight points. Sophomore Beau Everett added eight points off the bench after going 3-of-4 from the field.
After falling behind 6-2 at the 17:46-mark in the first half, the Bears stormed ahead by going on a 14-2 run to take a 16-8 lead at the 11:23-mark. Ursinus held the Mighty Macs to go 1-of-9 from the field during that stretch and held them without a point for 4:45. The Bears responded from a jumper by the Mighty Macs to end the run by adding five-straight points to go up 21-10 with 8:40 remaining in the first half. Ursinus did not let its lead fall under seven points for the remainder of the first half and led 32-22 into halftime following a layup from Everett at the 15-second mark.
The Mighty Macs started strong to start the second half as they used a 9-2 run to pull within three points of the Bears at 34-31 with 17:25 left in the second half. Ursinus maintained its lead out to 39-35 before using a 7-2 burst to go up 46-37 following a three-pointer from senior Matt McMahon. Freshman Sean Neylon hit a three-pointer of his own to put the Bears up 53-44 at the 10:02-mark of the second half, but the Mighty Macs rolled off 12-straight points to go up 56-53 with 6:03 left in regulation. Senior Peyton Vostenak ended the run with a three-pointer to tie the game at 56 before Everett put the Bears back in front with a layup at the 5:10-mark. The lead changed hands three times over the next three minutes as the Mighty Macs held a 64-62 lead with 2:23 left in regulation following a three-pointer. Hughes helped get the Bears the lead back after initially tying the game on a jumper and finding Wall underneath to complete a three-point play. Hughes responded to a Mighty Macs basket with a layup of his own to put the Bears up 69-66 with 1:07 left in regulation. Immaculata tied the game at 69 with a three-pointer at the 44-second mark, but Grubbs countered with a layup to put the Bears back in front at 71-69 with 19 seconds remaining. The Mighty Macs had a decent look to tie the game on their next possession but had a layup attempt hit the bottom of the rim, and Hughes grabbed the rebound. Hughes closed out the game by making both free throws to seal the win for the Bears.
The Bears shot 39.7 percent (29-of-73) from the field and went just 7-of-30 (23.3%) from three-point range. Ursinus went 8-of-11 (72.7%) from the free throw line and received 23 points from its bench. Meanwhile, the Mighty Macs went 45.1 percent (32-of-71) from the field but just 3-of-14 (21.4%) from beyond the arc. Immaculata struggled from the charity stripe by going 2-of-7 (28.6%) and held a slight 45-41 rebounding advantage. Four players scored in double figures for the Mighty Macs, led by Brandon McCullough with 15 points. Keith Farmer recorded a double-double for Immaculata with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Ursinus will return to action on Tuesday, November 23rd as they will take on Franklin & Marshall to open Centennial Conference play at 8 p.m.