(boxscore)
Senior Charles Jones (Philadelphia, PA) scored 22 points and was the catalyst in a late run for Widener, 66-62 winners over Commonwealth Conference foe Elizabethtown at Schwartz Center.
Kyle McConnell hit a layup for the Blue Jays with 6:39 left and Chris Hill followed suit 37 seconds later to make it 57-57, the game's 10th tie. After several empty possessions for both teams, Jones began the 7-0 spurt by nailing a 3-pointer for a 60-57 Pride lead with 4:25 left.
Senior Matt Sosna (Stratford, NJ) made a layup with 3:38 to play for Widener (16-5, 6-2 CC) and junior Jamarr Johnson (Pittsgrove, NJ) notched one of his own with 3:07 remaining for a 64-57 game.
Elizabethtown (10-11, 4-5) netted five straight for a 64-62 contest. Joe Flanagan hit a jumper and Mike Church converted a three-point play with 1:11 left.
After Sosna missed the front end of a one-and-one with 50 seconds left, the Blue Jays went for the tie. But they never got the opportunity as McConnell's pass was deflected and Jones came up with the steal.
Junior Bobby Edmunds (Linwood, NJ) hit a pair from the stripe with 25 seconds left for the final and the Pride's sixth victory in their last seven outings.
Jones shot 9-of-16 from the field for Widener, which hit 48 percent (24-of-50) overall and 7-of-18 from 3-point range. Sophomore Jarrell Nelson (Waldorf, MD) poured in nine points off the bench with Sosna, Johnson and Edmunds netting eight apiece.
Church scored 11 points with Flanagan and Keith Fogel posting nine apiece for Elizabethtown, which shot 46 percent (26-of-57) from the field but only 3-of-12 from beyond the arc.
Widener sits one game ahead of idle Albright (5-3) for first in the conference. The two battle Wednesday in Reading, PA at 8:00 pm, following the women's contest at 6:00 pm.
