CHESTER, Pa. – Nine different players found the scoring column as the Widener University men's basketball team advanced in the ECAC Division III Men's Basketball Championship with a 92-65 win against No. 1 seed Wilson from the Schwartz Center on Wednesday night.
 
With the win, Widener advances to the quarterfinals where it will face No. 3 seed Baruch on Friday, March 2 at 8:00 p.m. at the Marts Center on the campus of Wilkes University. Baruch beat William Paterson in the other First Round game in the pod, 64-57 to earn its spot in the round of eight.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Among the nine to score, four reached double figures, led by Jared Peters and Tyler Drews who netted 16 each.
• Sardayah Sambo came up a rebound shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine board, also contributing five blocks.
• Sam Smith netted 14 in the contest.
• Ryan McMahon and Connor Laverty both scored eight with McMahon dishing five assists and Laverty pulling in five rebounds.
• As a team, Widener hit 53 percent (35-of-66) of its shots from the floor while holding the Phoenix to 38.5 percent.
• The Blue and Gold also capitalized from the line, hitting 15-of-21 compared to 8-of-17 for Wilson.

 
FIRST HALF NOTES

• Falling behind 7-2 early, Widener went on a 11-0 run with five of the points coming from Smith to take a 13-8 lead a little less than five minutes in.
• Wilson tied the game at 13-13, but an extended spurt for the Pride saw the team score 28 of the next 39 points in a span of 9:25 to open a 41-24 advantage with 3:29 to go in the frame. As a team, Widener shot 13-for-18 during the stretch with Peters scoring seven of the points and six players tallying at least four.
• The Blue and Gold took a 48-32 lead into halftime thanks to shooting 53.8 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes and holding a 22-17 rebounding edge.

 
SECOND HALF NOTES

• The Phoenix got the second half off on the right foot, dropping the first bucket of the frame, but Widener went on another big run, this time a 23-8 spurt to open a 71-42 lead on a Peters trey near the midway mark of the half.
• The lead extended to 30 on a pair of occasions as the Pride was never seriously threatened in the final frame.
• Drews and Peters each did the majority of their damage after intermission, scoring 10 and nine respectively.
• Widener protected the rim well, blocking seven shots in the frame.

 
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