(men's notes) / (women's notes)
Widener's men's and women's basketball teams are headed back to the Commonwealth Conference Tournament and each on Wednesday face Messiah in the semifinals.
The men (20-5, 10-2 CC) are the top seed and host the fourth-seeded Falcons at Schwartz Center, beginning at 7:00 pm. The women (16-9, 7-5) are the No. 4 seed and visit the No. 13 ranked team in the country, starting at 7:00 pm in Grantham, PA.
Tickets for each game are $6 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for students and free for those under age six. At the men's game, Widener students will be admitted free with a valid ID.
Widener's men's team once again gets great scoring production from senior guard Charles Jones (Philadelphia, PA). A first team all-conference and second team All-Middle Atlantic District pick last year, Jones this season leads the league with 17.4 points per game, is third with 2.16 steals per contest, 10th with a 1.04 assist-to-turnover ratio and 11th with 1.32 three-pointers per game.
Senior center Matt Sosna (Stratford, NJ) also has been a force, sitting sixth in the league with 14.0 points per game, first with a .608 shooting percentage, fifth with 7.0 rebounds per contest, fifth with a .797 free throw percentage and second with a .441 three-point percentage. Sosna has been picked CoSIDA first team Academic All-District the last two years, sporting a 3.938 GPA in Civil Engineering.
Senior guard Nyere Miller (Washington, DC) consistently has been getting the job done with his leadership and determination. Last year's MVP of the conference tournament, Miller leads the league with 3.41 steals per game, is tied for 17th with 9.7 points per contest, eighth with a .403 three-point percentage, fifth with 2.18 three-pointers per game and fifth with 30.45 minutes played per contest.
Junior forward Jamarr Johnson (Pittsgrove, NJ) has played solidly of late, scoring in double figures the last four contests. He is 10th in the league with 5.2 rebounds per game, second with a .572 field goal percentage and fourth with 21 blocks.
Junior guard Bobby Edmunds (Linwood, NJ), picked second team all-conference last year, is fifth in the league with 3.29 assists per game, eighth with 1.62 steals per contest, fifth with a 1.41 assist-to-turnover ratio and 10th at 28.95 minutes played per game.
Widener, which enters Wednesday on a six-game winning streak, is the two-time defending conference champion and has appeared in the NCAA Tournament three straight years. It has not won three straight conference titles since 1976-78 and has not played in four successive NCAA Tournaments since 1975-78.
The Pride's 14th 20-win season also comes during a year which they claimed their first regular-season league title since 2006. They are third in the latest NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Region Rankings.
Widener, which has 14 Middle Atlantic/Commonwealth Conference titles and 16 NCAA Tournament trips to its name, looks to play in the conference final for the fourth straight year and fifth time in six seasons.
The women are in the conference tournament for the sixth time in seven years. This marks the fourth time in that span these schools have locked horns in the semifinals and second straight year.
Senior guard Beth Dessart Mager (Newtown Square, PA) again is a presence on both sides of the ball. She is tied for 17th in the league with 9.9 points per game, tied for 14th with 4.8 rebounds per contest, 10th with 1.32 three-pointers per game and 11th with 30.52 minutes played per contest.
Senior Barbara Fleming (Philadelphia, PA) has been a scoring machine all season with 17 games tallying in double figures. She is seventh in the conference with 13.0 points per contest, ninth with 1.76 steals per game, sixth with 1.72 three-pointers per contest and sixth 3.12 assists per game.
Freshman center Casey Pritz (Abington, PA) has made a name for herself in the post with nine double-doubles. She is 13th in the league with 11.6 points per game, first with a .551 shooting percentage, third with 8.0 rebounds per contest and second with 45 blocks.
Junior forward Becky Tyler (Wynnewood, PA), a second team all-conference pick last season, is sixth in the league with 7.2 rebounds per game and fourth with 2.92 offensive rebounds per contest.
Junior point guard Lindsey Isler (New Hope, PA), one of three on the team to start at least 24 games, is seventh in the league with 2.84 assists per contest.
The other men's semifinal pits second-seeded Albright hosting Elizabethtown and the other women's semifinal is between No. 2 seed Lebanon Valley and Albright. The finals are Saturday and each conference champion receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
