(box score)
Widener fought to the end, but went on a cold streak late and saw its four-game winning streak snapped with a 70-69 loss at Immaculata.
The Pride (5-3) looked in good shape with a 9-2 run that gave them a 59-50 lead with 11:18 remaining. Senior Jarrell Nelson (Waldorf, MD) scored four points in that spurt and junior Perry Wright (Severn, MD) canned a 3-pointer to end it.
The Mighty Macs (2-3) cut the lead to 63-61 with 6:01 to play on a layup from Phillip Ogunleye. But senior Chris McDevitt (Doylestown, PA) nailed a 3-pointer with 5:49 to go for a five-point margin.
Immaculata rattled off the next seven points beginning with Ogunleye hitting 3-for-4 from the stripe, the last two with 4:36 left for a 66-64 Pride lead. The Mighty Macs forged a 66-66 tie with 3:36 to go on a layup by Nelson Torres.
The teams' defenses then took over as neither refused to budge for almost two minutes. Immaculata finally broke through on two free throws from Brandon Smith with 1:37 remaining for a 68-66 lead, its first advantage since 12-10.
The cushion was short-lived as McDevitt drilled a 3-pointer, his fifth of the game, to give Widener a 69-68 lead with 1:07 remaining. The Pride looked in even better shape after a turnover from Eric Barefield, but junior Jack Brennan (Stratford, NJ) missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 39 seconds left to give the Mighty Macs another chance.
Following a time out, Torres got the ball and canned a jumper with 13 seconds left for a 70-69 Immaculata lead. Freshman Andrew Radomicki (Media, PA) missed a layup for Widener and the visitors got the ball back, but McDevitt could not hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
McDevitt scored 15 points, Brennan netted 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and Nelson added 11 and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Widener shot 46 percent (27-of-59) from the floor, but was just 8-for-16 from the line.
Torres poured in 22 points, Ogunleye had 12 and 14 rebounds with Kendall Peters adding 11 points for Immaculata, which shot 40 percent (24-of-60) from the field.
Widener on Saturday visits Neumann for a 3:00 pm start in Aston, PA.
