(boxscore)
12/1/07 -- Junior Charles Jones (Philadelphia, PA) scored 21 points and hit 7-of-9 from the line over the final 3:03 for Widener, which remained undefeated with a 73-68 victory over King's at Schwartz Center.
Widener (7-0) led by 11 entering the second half, but saw King's grab a 61-58 cushion with 4:44 remaining. The Monarchs went on a 10-1 run for that margin, capped on a jumper from Jamie Cousart.
Cousart with 2:50 remaining gave the Monarchs (3-2) their final lead, 65-64, with a pair of free throws. Sophomore Bobby Edmunds (Linwood, NJ), who hit a buzzer-beating, game-winning shot Thursday at Richard Stockton, came through again on a long 3-pointer with 2:36 for a 67-65 margin.
The teams traded turnovers before Cousart again was on the spot for King's, nailing a jumper with 48 seconds remaining for a 67-67 tie.
Widener again looked to Jones, the reigning Commonwealth Conference Player of the Week, who was fouled with 33 seconds left. He made both free throws for a 69-67 cushion.
King's looked to go into the lane for the tie, but Jim Welsh decided to pass the ball back to the perimeter. That pass was intercepted by Jones with 15 seconds left and he was fouled. Jones missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but junior Matt Sosna (Stratford, PA) was there for the offensive rebound.
Jones got the ball back, was fouled and hit twice from the stripe with 12 seconds to go for a 71-67 cushion. Vince Scalzo was fouled in the lane with 2.5 seconds left for King's, made the first free throw, but airballed the second as the visitors looked for an intentional miss.
Jones nailed two more free throws with two seconds to play for the final margin, lifting the Pride to their best start since opening the 2005-06 campaign 12-0.
Jones shot 10-for-14 from the line, helping the Pride nail 73 percent (11-for-15) in the second half and 77 percent (17-for-22) overall. He also went 3-of-4 from 3-point range for Widener, which hit 12-of-27 for the game and 9-of-16 in the first half when the team opened a 39-28 lead.
Junior Nyere Miller (Washington, DC) scored 17 points with five 3-pointers and freshman Clinton Cole (Upper Darby, PA) added 10 points for Widener, which shot 44 percent (22-of-50) overall.
Cousart did all he could with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and five rebounds. Scalzo had 12 points and eight rebounds with Welsh scoring 12 points for the Monarchs, which shot an impressive 53 percent (25-of-47) overall but were only 5-of-14 from 3-point range.
This was the teams first meeting since the Pride notched a 76-63 victory in Wilkes-Barre in the first round of last season's NCAA Tournament.
Widener next Wednesday opens a four-game road trip at Philadelphia Biblical. Tip-off in Langhorne, PA is 7:00 pm.
