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3/1/08 -- Tournament Most Valuable Player Nyere Miller (Washington, DC) sparked the decisive run as third-seeded Widener used a scoring onslaught and solid defense to win its second straight Commonwealth Conference title, 75-61 at top-seeded Lycoming in Williamsport, PA.

Widener (22-5) clinched its 14th Middle Atlantic/Commonwealth Conference title and 16th trip to the NCAA Tournament. It is the first time the Pride have won consecutive titles since 2000-01 and they will make their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, a first since going four consecutive times from 1975-78.

The pairings will be announced Monday at 12:00 noon on NCAA.com. Widener is third in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Rankings and earlier this season received votes in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll.

Head coach Chris Carideo will coach in his fourth NCAA Tournament, going in 2002 and 2003 at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy as well as with Widener last season. Carideo also played in the NCAA Tournament with Widener in 1995.

The Pride, who trailed by 11 in the game's first 7 1/2 minutes, left no doubt with a 21-2 run for a 60-40 lead with 8:19 left. Miller scored five points in that spurt with second team all-conference sophomore Bobby Edmunds (Linwood, NJ) and league Rookie of the Year Branden Washington (Elkridge, MD) netting four apiece.

Seven players scored in that run, helping Widener shoot 46 percent (26-of-57) from the field overall and nail six 3-pointers.

The Pride's defense also was a major story, holding the Warriors without a basket in the first 13 1/2 minutes of the second half. Widener outscored Lycoming, 43-29, after intermission by shooting 48 percent (13-of-27) from the field and limiting the home team to just 25 percent (5-of-20).

The Warriors (17-10) shot a mere 30 percent (15-of-50) overall and 7-of-25 from beyond the arc.

Miller's leadership and overall presence deservedly helped him bring home MVP honors. The junior scored seven points today, ending the tournament with 15 points and seven steals.

Charles Jones (Philadelphia, PA) poured in 16 points with three 3-pointers, fellow junior Matt Sosna (Stratford, NJ) had 14 points and eight rebounds with Washington notching 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting off the bench. This played a huge role in Widener gaining a 34-10 edge on points in the paint and a 20-6 margin in bench points.

Sophomore Jamarr Johnson (Pittsgrove, NJ) had nine points and nine rebounds, helping the Pride to a 40-32 edge on the board.

Eric Anthony closed with 21 points and 11 rebounds, Kevin Morris netted 15 points and David Wilson contributed 14 for the Warriors.

Widener, which defeated second-seeded Albright on Wednesday in the semifinals, won two road tournament games for the second straight year. The squad upended Messiah and Juniata a season ago en route to the crown.

The Pride, who have recorded 13 20-win seasons in their history, were making their third straight trip to the conference final and fourth in five years.