CHESTER, Pa. (Dec. 10, 2016) – The Widener University men's basketball team fell to Lycoming by a 74-62 score in Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth action on Saturday afternoon at the Schwartz Center.
 
The teams played a tight game for nearly 35 minutes with the contest featuring nine ties and 10 lead changes. But after a Widener player was whistled for an intentional foul at the 6:58 mark, Darius James hit a free throw to tie the game at 57s and Nyk King drove in for a layup on the ensuing possession to swing the pendulum in the direction of the Warriors. Lycoming scored 15 straight points over a span of 5:14, which was capped by an old-fashioned 3-point play coming from Chris Wallace, to burst ahead by a 67-57 score with under three minutes remaining and never looked back,
 
Widener led for the majority of the first half and burst out to a 17-9 lead when freshman Elijah Boyd (Germantown, Md.) connected from downtown at the 13:09 mark. The Warriors, however, fought back and regained a slight edge when T.J. Duckett sank two free throws to break a 28-28 deadlock 4:29 on the clock. Kendall Green appeared to sink a layup that would send the teams into the recess tied at 33, but Wallace came through by nailing a jumper ahead of the final buzzer to put the visitors ahead by two.
 
The Pride quickly regained the lead in the second half when junior Sam Smith (Wyomissing, Pa.) dialed up from long distance on the team's first shot attempt of the frame. Widener once again held the lead for most of the stanza and jumped ahead by as many as seven on two occasions. Lycoming, however, fought back and took advantage of the extra possession it gained following a Widener intentional foul to seize the lead for good during a hot stretch and remained unbeaten in conference play.
 
Lycoming (7-1, MAC Commonwealth 3-0) was led by Wallace, who came just shy of a double-double by posting 15 points and nine rebounds. He also blocked two shots. David Johnson added 14 points as well as four steals.
 
Smith paced Widener with a 14-point effort by shooting 4-of-6 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from long range, as well as 3-of-4 at the line. Senior John Fender (Wallingford, Pa.) contributed 11 points, three assists and two steals off the bench.
 
Widener (5-4, MAC Commonwealth 1-3) will take a break for final exams and return to action when it travels to Long Island to face the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 2 p.m.