GLASSBORO, N.J. – The Widener University men's basketball team placed three players in double figures, but the Pride dropped its season opener, 87-79 to Penn State Brandywine at the LaScala's Fire Tournament at Rowan on Thursday night.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Elijah Boyd led the Pride with 17 points and added five rebounds.
- Tyler Drews had 16 points, the majority coming in the second half. Connor Laverty posted 10 points. Kenny Lewis had nine in his collegiate debut.
- The Pride saw 10 players find the scoring column and shot 50.8 percent (30-for-59) from the floor, but were outrebounded 33-31 and committed 24 turnovers.
FIRST HALF NOTES
- Penn State Brandywine jumped out to a big lead just less than seven minutes into the opening 20 minutes, going up 20-7 at the 13:11 mark, connecting on 8-of-14 shots from the field and forcing six Widener turnovers.
- The Pride battled back, cutting the lead to 28-22with 6:09 to go in the frame on the first two points of Lewis' career.
- WU maintained the six-point gap into the locker room as Jalen Howard ended the half with his second bucket of the day with a second remaining to make it 40-34 at intermission.
- The Pride outshot the Nittany Lions 48.1 percent to 42.9 percent, but were hampered by 18 turnovers, allowing PSU Brandywine to take eight more field goal attempts.
- Boyd topped the Blue and Gold with 11 points in the half. Connor Laverty had eight.
SECOND HALF NOTES
- Widener made further inroads to the lead as Boyd tallied the first basket of the second half to chop the edge to 40-36.
- The Nittany Lions methodically increased their lead as the remainder of the half went on.
- Trailing 73-60 with just more than five minutes remaining, Widener pulled the lead into single digits, as Drews connected on an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 78-69 at the 3:23 mark. The Blue and Gold eventually cut the lead to 84-77, but PSU Brandywine held on down the stretch.
UP NEXT
The Pride plays in the consolation game of the tournament against either Rowan or Rosemont. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.