CHESTER, Pa. – Widener men's basketball opened the 2023 home events calendar with a MAC Commonwealth victory over the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen on Wednesday evening with a final score of 72-59.

Following the victory, Widener is 9-4 in the regular season with a 4-2 record against MAC Commonwealth opponents.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Pat Holden led the way with 17 points on 14 shots.
• The Pride hit 13 of 39 (33.3%) shots from downtown, while the Dutchmen converted on 4 of 15 (26.7%) attempts.
• Widener took advantage of the turnover battle with 16 points scored on nine Lebanon Valley giveaways.

HOW IT HAPPENED AT SCHWARTZ ATHLETIC CENTER

Following a slow start by the Pride, they turned to the three-point attack to outscore Lebanon Valley 39-12 from beyond the arc. Evan Smith of the Dutchmen started the scoring for either team with a three pointer. Within the first three minutes of the game, the Dutchmen jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The Pride could not find a rhythm early on. With 14:45 left in the first half, however, Widener's Kenny Lewis stole the ball which led to the Pride's first points of the evening: a Steven Matlack three off a Dominic Dunn assist. Matlack scored the Pride's second bucket with a driving layup. The Dutchmen followed with a few scores of their own before the Pride tied things up at 11. With 8:55 remaining, the Dutchmen went on a 7-0 again to lead 20-17. As Lewis made a layup with under seven minutes in the half, the Pride went on a 22-6 run to make the score 41-26. Holden scored 10 of Widener's final 11 points in the half. As a team, the men shot 14 of 31 (45.2%) from the floor, 8 of 21 (38.1%) from the beyond the arc, and went 5 of 6 (83.3%) from the line.
 
Similar to the first half, Smith was the initial scorer for either side. Lewis quickly erased that with a layup of his own off of a Holden assist. Almost two minutes of no scoring went by until Dunn broke through with a three to lead the Pride to a 46-28 advantage. At 14:16, Collin Jones of Lebanon Valley spent four minutes scoring 7 of 9 points to shorten the score back to 55-41 in favor of the Pride. After five straight points from Widener's Luke Mazur, the Dutchmen called timeout. Lebanon Valley's deficit was at 20 points. Following a Luis Garcia three for the Dutchmen with 7:41 left in the game, there was another two-minute silence from either offense. A layup from Lewis snapped the brief cold streak. A pair of Sean Mizzoni free throws gave Widener the final score of 72-59. Although the Dutchmen outscored the Pride 33-31 in the second half, they had no answers for the Pride's high-flying offense. Widener's bench also was solid, as they had a nine-point advantage over the Dutchmen's bench. Widener boasted the largest lead of the game at 21 points. The second half brought 10 of 30 (33.3%) from the floor, 5 of 18 (27.8%) in three pointers, and 6 of 8 (75%) from the line. The team also saw 20 points in the paint and eight second chance points.

UP NEXT
The Pride hit the road on Saturday, January 14, to York, Pa. to take on the 7-8 York College Spartans in a MAC Commonwealth showdown. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.