Game Info: Thursday, March 18 - 7:00 p.m.
Location: James Work Gymnasium - Doylestown, Pa.
Social Media: @WidenerSports |
@WidenerMBB
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Opening Tip
With a fourth place finish in the MAC Commonwealth regular season standings, the Pride will play a crossover postseason game against the fourth ranked MAC Freedom team: Delaware Valley. Tipoff from Doylestown is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Thursday vs. Arcadia - @WidenerMBB Battles In Tight Game Against Arcadia
Despite another great shooting performance, the Widener University men's basketball team was upended 70-67 by Arcadia in its final regular season game at the Schwartz Center.
GAME NOTES
- First year Kevin Schenk scored a career-high 17 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting. He also picked up two steals.
- Pat Holden tallied 17 in the scoring column and dished out three assists.
- Matt Daulerio posted eight points, seven rebounds, and two blocks.
- For the second straight game, the Blue and Gold shot 50 percent or better from beyond the arc, going 9-of-18 on three-point attempts.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The match opened with both teams exchanging baskets. A 16-3 run by the Pride, including 12 points in five minutes by
Kevin Schenk, gave it a 13 point advantage at the 7:54 mark. The Knights quickly responded with a 17-4 run of their own to lock the score at 30 entering halftime.
The second act saw incredible three-point shooting from both sides as Widener went 8-of-11 from deep and Arcadia shot 8-of-14. Down three with two minutes to play, a trey from
Steven Matlack tied things back up for the Blue and Gold. However, another deep shot by the Knights and a Widener miss as time expired allowed Arcadia to narrowly come away with the win.
Friday at Arcadia - @WidenerMBB Falls To Arcadia In Regular Season Finale
The Widener University men's basketball team fell 87-78 to Arcadia in its regular season finale Friday night. The Pride finishes the season 4-6 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
GAME NOTES
- Pat Holden posted a career-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including five three-pointers.
- Kevin Schenk recorded his first career double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling in 10 boards.
- Steven Matlack tallied 12 in the scoring column on 6-of-11 shooting. He also grabbed five rebounds.
- First year Cortland Johnson scored a personal best nine points to go with five boards.
- Five Pride players shot 50 percent or better from the field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The score was kept even as both sides jostled for the lead through the first five minutes until Arcadia delivered 20 unanswered points to go up by as many at the half's midpoint. Widener mad a push to battle back as
Steven Matlack and
Kevin Schenk provided much of the offense, but the Knights kept things at bay and entered halftime up 53-30.
The beginning of the second half was much of the same as Arcadia went up by as many as 32. With nine minutes to play, the Blue and Gold got a spark it needed and went on a 27-7 scoring run to cut its deficit back down to 10. However, it was too little too late as time winded down and the Knights held onto a nine point win.
Scouting Report
Delaware Valley enters the matchup 4-5 overall and 3-3 in conference play. The Aggies have won three of their last four games and are on a two-game win streak after downing FDU-Florham in both legs of a back-to-back series. This will Widener's first matchup against them since December 9, 2015.
Spearheading Delaware Valley's offense is senior Matt Paulus who is averaging 13 points per game and dishing out a team-high 3.7 assists a contest. Paulus also leads the MAC Freedom in steals with 18 on the season. The Aggies' top rebounder is Pernell Ghee who is pulling in 7 boards per matchup to go with 12.6 points. Dariel Medina adds some strong three-point shooting to the backcourt, knocking down 46.2 percent of his shots from deep this season.
Delaware Valley has been extremely adept at creating turnovers this season. Its 18.3 forced turnovers per game is good for first in the MAC Freedom and 24th in all of NCAAD3. The Aggies have also been very good at defending the deep ball, holding opponents to just 29.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Mark Seidenburg is in his fifth season at the helm for Delaware Valley. In that time, he has led the Aggies to the conference tournament twice, including a top-seeded berth in 2016-17. Seidenburg was named MAC Freedom Coach of the Year in his first season with Delaware Valley.
Board Meeting
The Pride has been one of the best rebounding teams in the country this season. Its 30.8 defensive rebounds per game leads the MAC Commonwealth and ranks 30th nationally.
Point Man
Pat Holden has had a career year running the point for Widener. He is averaging a team-high 12.1 points per game and most recently set a career-high in scoring with 21 points against Arcadia. He also leads the Pride in assists per matchup (3.0) and three-point shooting percentage (42.1). His most memorable highlight of the season came when he knocked down the game-winning shot at the buzzer in overtime to give the Blue and Gold a win over Albright.
Free Basketball
After going two straight seasons without an overtime game, the Blue and Gold has taken two matches to extra periods so far this season - an 81-79 win over Albright and a 92-90 double-OT loss to Lebanon Valley. The last overtime game for the Pride prior to this year came on December 2, 2017 when it defeated Stevenson 78-75.
Jared Peters is the only current player on the roster to have played in that game.
Double Dipping
Three Pride players recorded their first career double-doubles this season.
Steven Matlack got his when he posted 11 points and 13 rebounds at Lebanon Valley. In the following game at home against Lebanon Valley, first year
Matt Daulerio reached the milestone when he netted 14 points and grabbed 17 boards. The last time a Pride player had 17 or more rebounds in a game was on February 8, 2014 when Greg Lawson pulled in 23 against Hood. The last first year to record a double-double was
Kenny Lewis in 2019.
Kevin Schenk was the most recent player to reach the benchmark, picking up 13 points and 10 rebounds in the regular season finale at Arcadia.
Tricentennial
With a 83-67 win over Stevenson in the season opener, head coach
Chris Carideo earned his 300th career victory. He currently sits at 215 wins with Widener, making him the second winningest coach in program history behind just C. Alan Rowe who coached Carideo from 1991-95.
