Men's Basketball Posts Two Double-Doubles in 80-69 Loss to Messiah

(box score)

Senior captain Rob McPherson (Bowie, MD) and junior Greg Lawson (Mount Holly, NJ) both secured a double-double in a 80-69 Commonwealth Conference loss to Messiah on Tuesday night in Grantham, PA.

Widener (13-11, 7-10 CC) previously lost 95-87 to Messiah on January 23 in a hard fought back-and-forth battle and Tuesday proved to be more of the same.

Messiah took an early lead on its home court and held a nine-point advantage in the closing minutes of the first half. Lawson then redeemed the Pride with three straight free throws to cut the lead to 37-31 going into the locker room. Lawson finished with 12 points by going 8-for-12 from the free throw line along with bringing down a team-high 15 rebounds and four blocks.

Early in the second half, two 3-pointers for McPherson put Widener up 45-41. McPherson went 9-of-17 from the field and 4-of-8 from behind the arc for 25 points. McPherson defensively added 10 rebounds and one steal on the day.

Messiah's Brad Bolen's five straight points regained the lead for the Falcons.

Minutes later, a 3-pointer from sophomore David Nicholson (Odenton, MD) helped the Pride tie the game at 58-58 with nine minutes remaining. However, Brad Bolen again ruined the momentum for Widener by hitting two straight shots from beyond the arc and securing the insurmountable lead for Messiah.

Junior Dillon Fields (Medford, NJ) led Widener with three assists and two steals. Fields played 37 minutes with six points and six rebounds. Junior Mark Pryzbylkowski (New Egypt, NJ) came off the bench to go 2-of-2 from beyond the arc for six points and one rebound.

Messiah (19-4, 13-4) was led by Brad Bolen with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting and went 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Bolen also led the Falcons with eight rebounds and one steal. Zac Hoy scored 17 points and dished four assists. David Fernandez registered nine points, six assists and seven rebounds in the victory.

Widener returns to action in the final game of the 2013-14 season Saturday at Arcadia. The women begin at 1:00 and men go at 3:00 pm.

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