Men's Basketball Handed Tough 79-77 Overtime Loss by Lycoming in Conference Semifinals

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Despite the latest heroics from senior Brian Smith (Baltimore, MD), Widener's comeback from a 16-point second-half deficit went for naught in a 79-77 overtime loss to Lycoming in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals at Schwartz Center.

Second-seeded Widener (18-8) looked like it was in big trouble when Patrick Dougher hit a layup to give Lycoming a 51-35 lead with 13:15 remaining. The Pride hung around before making their run thanks to great execution and a raucous crowd.

Mike Bradley made a layup as Lycoming (19-7) opened a 69-62 cushion with 1:58 left. After Bradley missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Smith canned two free throws with 1:47 to play for a 69-64 deficit.

Junior Rob McPherson (Bowie, MD) then came up with a big steal for the Pride and fed senior Perry Wright (Severn, MD), whose layup with 64 seconds remaining made it a 69-66 contest.

Jerald Williams then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to set up the final play. Smith got the ball on the right wing and, as he has done many times, came through the clutch as his 3-pointer with 31 seconds to go tied the game and had those in the gym looking to break a decibel meter.

The Warriors looked for the win, but Williams missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Wright hit a layup with 3:35 to play in overtime for Widener's first lead since the opening half, 71-69. Bradley and Smith then traded 3-pointers before Anthony Martin's layup brought Lycoming to a 74-74 tie.

Ihsaan Davis then canned a huge 3-pointer with 2:14 to go for a 77-74 Lycoming lead and Bradley's layup increased the margin to five with 1:22 left.

Widener sophomore Andrew Radomicki (Media, PA) hit a huge 3-pointer from the left corner with 51 seconds remaining for a 79-77 deficit. The Pride elected to foul and with 33 seconds left selected Williams, who again missed the front end of a 1-and-1.

The game had seen everything but an ending and the Pride called timeout looking for one. Smith was called upon, but the defense went to him and his 3-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer.

Smith did all he could with a season-best 27 points on 8-of-19 shooting over 31 minutes. Wright had 24 points and 10 rebounds, senior Jack Brennan (Stratford, NJ) scored 10 points and McPherson hauled in 11 rebounds for the Pride, who shot 40 percent (29-of-73) from the floor.

Bradley was a force with 31 points and 13 rebounds with Martin getting 19 points for the Warriors, who shot 49 percent (34-of-69) from the field.

The Pride entered tonight ranked seventh in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic region rankings. Widener had separate winning streaks of seven and six games this season and hosted a conference tournament game for the first time since 2009.

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