EWING, N.J. – The Ursinus men's basketball team was unable to overcome a slow start to the second half as they dropped a 79-63 contest to TCNJ on Wednesday night in non-conference action.
With the loss, the Bears fall to 1-1 on the season as they continued their opening week of play. Meanwhile, the Lions of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) improved to 3-1 overall.
Sophomore Trevor Wall led the Bears with a team-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and dished out five assists. Junior Kyle Maurer added 16 points and four rebounds while senior Ryan Hughes posted 13 points and three rebounds. Freshman Sean Neylon was the fourth and final Bear in double-figures with 10 points and classmate Cole Grubbs hauled down a game-high nine rebounds.
The majority of the first 10 minutes of the opening half saw back and forth action as the lead changed hands six times and score tied four times. The Lions surged ahead at 21-13 with a 12-4 run behind a trio of three-pointers after the game was tied at nine. Ursinus made back-to-back baskets to pull within four points at 21-17 before TCNJ countered with eight-straight points to go up 29-17 at the 8:47-mark of the first half. The Lions built a 39-27 lead with 2:01 remaining in the first half, but the Bears made a late surge by closing out the first 20 minutes on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit down to 39-34 at halftime.
Following a trading of baskets to open the second half, the Lions went on an 11-4 run to take a 52-40 lead at the 14:37-mark. TCNJ continued its strong second half by extending the run to 21-6 and went up 62-42 at the 10:04-mark. The Bears struggled to cut back into the Lions lead throughout the remainder of the second half, moving as close as down 13 points at 73-60 with 2:44 left in regulation. Unfortunately for Ursinus, that would be the closest they would get to the Lions in the final portion of the second half.
The Bears shot 39.0 percent (23-of-59) from the field for the contest and went just 7-of-27 (25.9%) from beyond the arc. Ursinus went 10-of-14 (71.4%) from the free throw line and held a 10-5 edge in fast break points. Meanwhile, the Lions shot 42.6 percent (29-of-68) from the field and 10-of-32 (31.3%) from three-point range. TCNJ went 11-of-20 (55%) from the charity stripe and held a sizable 47-33 edge in rebounds that led to a 11-2 advantage in second chance points.
Justin Carbone led the Lions with a game-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Anthony DiCaro added 16 points and a game-high six assists. Jim Clemente tallied a line of 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists as well.
Ursinus will return to action on Saturday, November 20th as they will travel to face Immaculata at 3 p.m.