The Muhlenberg men's basketball team rallied in the second half, but came up short, 81-78, at Ursinus.
 
The Mules (12-12, 9-8) currently hold a one game lead for the fourth seed in the Centennial Conference playoffs. Behind Muhlenberg sits Franklin & Marshall, Washington and Dickinson all with an 8-9 conference record.
 
Junior Matt Gnias took an inbound pass from sophomore Michael Morreale in the lane and dribbled to the left wing for a game-tying three-point attempt in the waning seconds but the shot fell short. Morreale had a game-tying three-point attempt of his own with five seconds left but it didn't go.
 
The Mules overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to pull within five on multiple occasions over the final 20 minutes of play. The first came courtesy of a 13-3 run over the first four and a half minutes of the frame to make the score 49-44. The Bears (15-9, 12-5) built their lead back to as many as 12 with 8:03 to go, before the Mules rallied to pull within three courtesy of a Morreale three-pointer with 1:40 left.
 
The Mules rally came on the heels of a 57.58-percent shooting effort over the final 20 minutes, including 7-of-15 from long range.
 
Gnias led all Mules with 23 points, his third straight 20-plus point game and sixth of the season. He was joined in double figures by freshmen Nate Henty Brown with 14 and Dan Gaines (pictured above) with 11. The latter has reached double-figure scoring for the ninth-straight game.