CHESTER, Pa. – The Widener men's basketball team opened their 2022-23 season with two wins in their annual Tip-Off for Autism Awareness tournament on November 11^th and 12^th. The men won Friday evening against SUNY Geneseo and again on Saturday during the championship game against Vassar College.
 
After the two wins, the Pride move to 2-0 in the regular season and await a MAC Commonwealth game.
 
Game 1 vs SUNY Geneseo
 
The Pride took away an 83-51 victory against the Knights on Friday evening. The men went 30 of 62 in field goals and shot 15 of 32 from beyond the 3-point line. Leading the Pride through game 1 was graduate student Dominic Dunn with 21 points with 15 of them being threes. The Pride's second scoring leader was number 14 Pat Holden with 15 points. From the bench, Luke Mazur tallied eight points and three rebounds. The team went 8-12 at the line and pushed 13 points from turnovers. 
 
Game 2 vs Vassar College
 
The Pride closed out their Tip-Off for Autism Awareness tournament with another victory in the championship game against the Brewers on Saturday afternoon. Dunn with the help from junior Kevin Schenk combined for 41 points to secure a 69-51 win in the Schwartz Center. The team went on a shooting fest with 58 total field goals and 31 total three points being shot. Dunn registered 30 points throughout the game and found nine rebounds. Schenk and Kenny Lewis found seven other rebounds that led to points being scored. From the bench, Matt Johnson found the bucket for seven points shooting 100%. 
 
Widener's Dunn earned tournament MVP with a total of 51 points throughout the weekend and 14 rebounds. In the game against SUNY Geneseo, Dunn went 5 of 6 from beyond the 3-point line and went 4 of 8 in the Vassar game.
 
Teammate Schenk earned All-Tournament Team with 19 total points and 14 rebounds. Schenk dished out four assists.
 
Head Coach Chris Carideo was pleased with the hard work the team has put in during the preseason and is "extremely happy for our team. They have practiced with urgency and are pushing each other every day." Over the two days, the Pride have shown they can put points on the board with numerous players against strong programs. "They competed in both games this weekend against very well coached and talented teams! It's a great start to the season!"
 
The Pride return home on Wednesday evening against the 2-0 Swarthmore Garnets. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in the Schwartz Center.