WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Trailing by eight at the beginning the second half, the Widener University men's basketball team opened up a 17-7 run to take a 46-44 advantage over the Lycoming College Warriors with 11:25 remaining in the game. Back-and-forth from there, the two teams traded buckets, forcing a 63-63 tie at the end of regulation. Lycoming outscored Widener 14-8 in the extra period, securing the 77-71 victory over the Pride.

With the outcome, Widener clinched the third seed in the MAC Commonwealth Championships. The Pride will play the second-seeded Hood College Blazers in Frederick, Md. on Wednesday, February 20 at 7:00 p.m.

How it happened
Widener jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead nearly four minutes into the contest courtesy of a Kenny Lewis layup. That was largest deficit Lycoming faced in the first half. The Warriors held a five-point edge at the 7:48 mark in the first, but buckets from Lewis and Jared Peters narrowed the gap to one with just over six minutes to play before the half. An 11-6 run by Lycoming to close out the first created six-point margin in favor of the Warriors at the intermission.

The 17-7 run to open the second half began with a Peters three-pointer off an Elijah Boyd assist. A layup from Ryan McMahon capped it off and gave the Pride its first lead since the 14:49 mark in the first. WU kept its advantage for nine minutes, holding a 63-59 margin with two minutes and some change left in regulation. Consecutive buckets from Lycoming evened the score, causing overtime.

The Warriors started the first overtime period hot, netting seven consecutive points. Peters knocked down two shots from beyond the arc in the five minute span, but the deficit was too much for the Pride to overcome.

By the numbers

• Connor Laverty led all scorers with 19 points and hit three shots from deep.
• Kenny Lewis finished with a career-high in points and rebounds, going for 16 and 14.
• Jared Peters dropped 15 points
• The Pride outrebounded the Warriors 50-45