CHESTER, Pa. – A furious second half comeback for the Widener University men's basketball team came up just short as the Pride fell to the Albright Lions 83-78 in a MAC Commonwealth matchup on Wednesday evening.
A tight battle ensued early as neither team held more than a four point lead through the opening 11 minutes. Albright went on run thanks to some hot shooting from distance to take a 30-19 lead with just under seven minutes to go in the half. The Pride battled back, going on an extended 15-7 run, pulling to 37-34 before a three-quarter court toss went in at the buzzer, giving the Lions a six-point edge at intermission.
Albright opened the second half on an early 12-5 run to push to its largest lead of the night. The teams traded baskets for the next four minutes before back-to-back triples from
Donovan Simon cut the lead to 59-52 with 12:52 remaining. The Lions pushed the advantage to 71-56 just past the midway mark of the frame before Widener stormed back. An 11-0 run, bookended by a pair of baskets by Boyd, the latter being his first trey of the evening chopped the score to 71-67 with just under eight minutes to go. Albright recovered and extended the score out to 80-70 four minutes later. Undaunted, Widener continued to fight. Four different players scored down the stretch as the Blue and Gold went on an 8-0 run to chop the lead to two. The Pride was unable to get the equalizing basket and Albright connected on three of four attempts at the line to seal the score.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Tyler Drews led all scorers with 24 points, hitting four three-pointers in the game.
- Sardayah Sambo and Ryan McMahon also netted double figures for the Pride with 12 and 11 respectively. McMahon came up one rebound shy of a double-double, pulling in a career-high tying nine rebounds. He also added a team best six assists.
- The Blue and Gold dropped nine treys in the game on 17 shots.
- The two teams combined to hit 22 three-pointers in the game.
FIRST HALF NOTES
- The two teams played very evenly through the midway mark of the period as neither team held more than a four point lead through the first 11 minutes.
- Albright got hot from beyond the arc, connecting on a trio of consecutive three-pointers followed by a layup to take a 30-19 lead at the 6:56 mark.
- Widener began to chip away as back-to-back layups by Boyd and Jackson and then a jumper by Drews cut the edge to five. The Lions pushed the lead back to 35-25 before the Pride went on a 9-2 run down the stretch, making it 37-34 with 1.6 seconds left before a three-quarter court heave by Jayson Clark found the bottom of the net, sending Albright into halftime with a six-point lead.
- Drews led Widener with 10 points in the half, followed by Sambo with eight.
- The Blue and Gold stayed in the game despite a hot shooting half as Albright connected on 8-of-12 shots from beyond the arc.
SECOND HALF NOTES
- The Lions opened the second half strong, scoring 12 of the first 17 points out of the locker room to take a 52-39 lead slightly less than three minutes into the stanza.
- Down 71-56, the Pride started their comeback, netting 11 in a row, five of them coming from Boyd who opened and closed the stretch with a layup and a three respectively to chop the lead to 71-67.
- After the Lions pushed the score back to 80-70 with 4:33 to go, the Blue and Gold made its final push. A trey by Drews and a layup by McMahon were followed by a trio of free throws coming from Boyd and Sambo to slice the edge to 80-78.
- Widener connected went 7-for-10 from beyond the arc including hitting its first six shots from distance.
UP NEXT
Widener travels to No. 12 Lycoming on Saturday for a MAC Commonwealth contest. Tipoff from Lamade Gymnasium in Williamsport, Pa. is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
