COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - The Dickinson men's basketball team put four players in double-figures, including a 19-point and 12-rebound double-double for
Nate Ogbu, but it would not be enough as the host Ursinus College Bears held on for the Centennial Conference win at Helfferich Hall on Thursday night.
After falling behind 3-0 on a trey by Nick Nocito, the Red and White responded with buckets from
Isaiah Edmond and
Nate Ogbu to grab a 4-3 edge just two minutes in. Over the next three-plus minutes the Bears used baskets by Beau Everett, Mohamed Toure and Trevor Wall to build up an 11-8 advantage. The visitors then picked up an "old-fashioned" three-point play for Ogbu to draw even at 11, before Jaiden Jakubowski and
Randy Shephard exchanged scores to remain locked 13-13 with a dozen minutes to play. A three-ball for Edmond made it 16-15 DC, before Marlin Wise and Wall tallied six in a row giving the hosts a 21-16 advantage. Scores from
Cole Cosby and Ogbu surrounded a layup out of the hands of Matthew Field, before
Brandon Wiercinski dialed up from deep knotting the game once again at 23 at the 14:19 mark. Dickinson would head into the break strong as buckets from Ogbu and Shephard had the game in a deadlock at 30 through 20 minutes.
Over the first two minutes of the second period there were just four combined points as Jakubowski finished in the paint, while Ogbu knocked home two on the line. Ursinus then used a 6-1 spurt on buckets for Everett, Toure and Wall to grab a 38-33 advantage prompting a Dickinson timeout with 5:37 off the clock. Out of the break DC would collect five of the ensuing eight points with
Luis Ruiz sticking two on the charity line and
Anthony Goeb delivering from downtown to close within 41-38. Three points each for Wall and Wiercinski kept the margin at just three 44-41 still with over eleven minutes left. Wiercinski continued his hot shooting knocking down two more triples, while getting pull-up for Ogbu and driving layup by Goeb to finish off an 11-2 sprint to go in front 52-46. The game continued to seesaw back-and-forth as the Bears used baskets for Field, Toure and Wall and pull themselves back ahead 57-54 leading to a Dickinson stoppage at the 14:46 mark. The timeout was well worth it as Goeb buried a triple from the left-wing to tie the score again (57-57), but Luke Nieman went right back down the court and hit from deep to reclaim the lead for UC. Five free throws put away by Wall opened it to 65-57 inside the final two minutes. After Goeb trimmed two off the deficit, "The Wall Show" continued with another layup and two more foul shots making the lead double-digits (69-59). The Red and White would get baskets from Edmond, Goeb and Wiercinski down the stretch, unfortunately it would not be enough as home side dribbled out the final seconds for the 74-68 win.
Red Devil Leaders
Points - Ogbu (19), Goeb (15), Wiercinski (14), Edmond (10)
Assists - Ogbu (4), Edmond, Shephard and Venezia (2)
Rebounds - Ogbu (12), Edmond and Wiercinski (5)
Bear Leaders
Points - Wall (32), Toure (10)
Assists - Wall (5), Wise (3)
Rebounds - Toure and Wall (8)
Next on the Court
Dickinson (5-9, 2-5 Centennial) concludes a three-game week on Saturday afternoon at 4pm when they host the Shoremen of Washington College inside the Kline Center.
