WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (Jan. 28, 2017) – Freshman Connor Laverty (Upper Township, N.J.) scored nine points and notched a key steal in the waning seconds to help propel the Widener University men's basketball team to a 72-70 road win over first-place Lycoming on Saturday afternoon at Lamade Gym. The Pride nearly led from wire-to-wire and held off a late charge by the Warriors to pick up their fourth straight triumph as well as their fifth in the last six games.

Even though Widener built up a 21-point lead in the second half, the Warriors stormed back and the teams found themselves fighting for the edge until the buzzer sounded at the end of regulation. Following a good free throw by Sardayah Sambo (Middletown, Del.) that made it 72-70 with 12 seconds remaining in regulation, Lycoming had the ball with the chance to tie or win and avoid overtime. The Warriors attempted to at least go for the tie by looking down low, but Laverty came through with a key steal through contact. No foul was called on the play, and the Pride narrowly escaped with the pivotal conference victory.
 
Widener combined a balanced offense with a stingy defense to build up a quick lead they would hold for nearly the entire first half. After Alex Newbold sank a shot at the free throw line to put the Warriors temporarily ahead by a 4-3 score, the red-hot Sam Smith (Wyomissing, Pa.) dialed up from long distance to kickstart a run for the Pride. A dunk by Sambo extended the margin to 32-18 at the 4:23 to prompt a Lycoming timeout, and Smith connected from downtown again to give the Pride a 44-27 advantage at the half.
 
The Warriors began chipping away at the deficit in the second half and came within 10 to force the Pride to take a timeout with 10:22 left. Darius James stole the ball in the backcourt and went in for an uncontested slam and then set up T.J. Duckett for a trey to make it 61-51.
 
Widener's lead continued to shrink after the quick break, as David Johnson scored six straight points to continue a 21-4 run and create a 63-59 score with 7:47 left. The Pride temporarily recovered and moved their lead back up to eight courtesy of sharp shooting by senior captain Kendall Green (Mount Laurel, N.J.) at the free throw line, and the visitors survived a late scare from the hosts to win for the fifth time in six outings.
 
Sambo contributed a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with six blocks to lead the way for Widener. He also dished out a team-leading four assists. Smith finished with 18 points, while Laverty contributed nine points, six boards and three helpers.
 
Duckett scored a game-high 21 points by most notably converting six shots from downtown to pace Lycoming (16-4, MAC Commonwealth 8-3), which has been receiving votes in the national poll for the past several weeks. Nyk King and Darius James added 11 points apiece.
 
Widener (11-8, MAC Commonwealth 5-5) will look to remain in postseason contention when it hosts Lebanon Valley on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m.