The Ursinus Bears Basketball Men’s and Women’s squads are pushing hard for a playoff spot with just a few games left in the regular season.
The Men’s basketball squad, fresh off a win against Dickinson College, is 12-7 with under 6 games to go in the Centennial Conference regular season. The Bears are in 5th place in the conference and within a game of 4th place with Swarthmore.
The Bears Men’s basketball team, who as a team lead the conference in total points and average points per game this season, have been led by Trevor Wall, who leads the entire conference and the team as a whole in scoring, averaging 22.6 points per game and scoring at least 20 points per game dating all the way back to January 15th, when he dropped 22 points versus Haverford. When asked about potential playoff prospects for the Bears, Wall said he was “confident” that the team would in fact make the Centennial Conference playoffs. Wall led all scorers with a game-high 24 points against Dickinson College to increase his 20+ point streak to six games and totaled five steals, four assists, plus four rebounds. He’s also top 5 in the conference in both rebounds and steals.
Nick Nocito has been a great partner for Wall this season, leading the Centennial Conference in assists. Nocito, who is averaging about 12 points per game, is coming off a 13-point game against Dickinson, in which he was 5-for-8 from the field.
Luke Nieman has also made a name for himself in the Centennial Conference, recently jumping within the top 5 in 3-pointers per game, averaging 2.1. Nieman had a great game against Dickinson, with 20 points in just 26 minutes, and was 4-for-9 from 3-point range. Bears assistant Zachary Stanfield says he is not surprised with Nieman’s recent surge, noting he has been nailing down 3-point shots during practice “like there was no tomorrow.”
In terms of the Women’s Basketball squad, they are also having a very solid season so far in the Centennial Conference. The Bears are in the midst of a 3-game win streak since the end of January, fresh off a 6-point victory against Dickinson. The Bears are currently 13 and 7 this season and in 3rd place in the Centennial Conference with under 5 games to go in the regular season.
The Bear’s offense has been led by Chinwe Irondi, whose 19-game streak of at least 11 points came to an end against Dickison. Chinwe still leads the conference in average points per game with 20.2. Irondi also leads the conference in rebounds per game, averaging 10.4.
Colleen Blackman has also been a key part of the Bear’s success this season, owning a conference-leading 37.9% 3-point percentage. Blackman is also averaging the most 3-pointers per game, averaging 3.2 a game for the Bears. Blackman played a big part in the Bear’s recent win against Dickison, where with 43 seconds remaining and the shot clock winding down, Blackman drove towards the paint before lifting over her defender for the go-ahead jump shot giving Ursinus a 55-53 lead.
Guard Ava Possenti is another member of the Bears women’s basketball team who has been on a hot streak recently. Since January 4th, Possenti has had at least 10 points per game. She is also coming off back-to-back 15-point games for the Bears.
With around 2 weeks left in the season, the Men’s team is looking to end the season off with a bang and clinch their ticket to a playoff berth. The team now sits fresh of a victory against Johns Hopkins University as of the most recent update of this article, sitting at 5th in the conference. The Women’s team continues strong as well, 4-1 in their last 5 as the playoffs approach. Come out and support the Bears this Saturday as they take on Swarthmore!!!