CARLISLE, Pa. - The Dickinson men's basketball knew the score as they entered their regular season finale on Saturday afternoon at the Kline Center. A win over the visiting Ursinus College and a loss by Muhlenberg on the road at Gettysburg would force a "play-in game" for the sixth and final playoff spot in next week's Centennial Conferenct tournament. Thanks to double-digits from
Nate Ogbu and
Skyler Venezia the Red and White collected a 66-55 win over the Bears, while the Mules were tripped up by the Bullets 79-53 to force the deciding game Monday in Allentown.
Prior to the game the Devils honored:
Anthony Goeb,
Andrew Gostovich,
Drew Haueisen,
Nate Ogbu and
Randy Shephard playing in their final game in Carlisle.
On Senior Day, all five members of the senior class (one graduate student) got the start on Saturday and it would be
Drew Haueisen who gave the home side a 2-0 lead, but Nick Nocito and Trevor Wall went on an 8-3 spurt for the 8-5 edge. Another bucket for Haueisen made it 8-7, before Matthew Field and Mohamed Toure tallied the next five (13-7). Triples by Ogbu and Venezia coupled with buckets from
David Petrusev and
Brandon Wiercinski trimmed the gap to just one 17-16 with 8:48 off the clock. After five straight for the Bears, both
Isaiah Edmond and Venezia delivered from deep to lock the score up at 22-22, prior to Edmond finding Wiercinski for the jumper and a 24-22 advantage with seven minutes left. Dickinson kept up the pressure as Ogbu dropped five more, while Haueisen hit from downtown for a 32-25 lead. Ursinus would claw back however, as Cole Grubbs, Luke Nieman, Marlin Wise and Nocito went on a 7-0 run to tie things back up. Edmond would end the scoring for the half by beating the horn with a paint jumper to go into the break at 34-32.
The Bears picked up four of the first five points of the second period taking a 36-35 edge, before Dickinson grabbed seven of the ensuing nine thanks to
Anthony Goeb and Ogbu to jump back ahead 42-38 with four minutes off the clock. Layups for Grubbs and Wall knotted the score at 42, but long-range efforts from
Andrew Gostovich, Goeb and Wiercinski capped a 9-0 Devils response for the 51-42 lead at the 8:10 mark. Despite foul shots by Field and Nieman, jumpers for Edmond, Venezia (2) and Wiercinski as well as a dunk by Ogbu punctuated a 10-4 DC run to make it 61-46 with just under three left. After a layup for Wise, Ogbu hit Venezia for the Devils second dunk of the, which was then followed four makes at the foul line to allow Dickinson to secure the 66-55 victory.
Red Devil Leaders
Points - Ogbu and Venezia (15)
Assists - Ogbu (5), Edmond (4), Shephard (2)
Rebounds - Goeb (8), Ogbu (6), Edmond and Haueisen (5)
Bear Leaders
Points - Toure (13), Wall (11)
Assists - Nocito and Wall (2)
Rebounds - Toure (7), Wise (6), Nocito (5)
Next on the Court
Dickinson (10-15, 7-11 Centennial) will head to Muhlenberg College on Monday night at 7:30pm for the Centennial Conference Tournament Play-In Game with the winner claiming the sixth seed and heading to third-seeded Franklin & Marshall College on Wednesday night.
