CHESTER, Pa. – The Pride punched their ticket to the NCAA Division III tournament after defeating Alvernia on Saturday 74-69 in the MAC Commonwealth Championship. In the first round, they will take on the Tufts University Jumbos in Keene, N.H. on Friday at 3:00 p.m.

Widener comes into the tournament with a 19-8 overall record and a 11-5 conference record.

In the Pride's most-recent game versus Alvernia, Widener saw four players hit double-digit scoring. Kenny Lewis and Kevin Schenk tied for 16 points each, while Dominic Dunn and Pat Holden had 15 and 12 respectively.

On the season, Dunn leads the Pride with 492 total points and averages 18.2 points per game. Holden, the graduate student guard, paces the team with 106 rebounds while averaging 14 points per game and 4.1 assists per game. Pride forward, Lewis comes into the tournament with 221 season rebounds and over 700 career rebounds. Lewis averages 8.2 rebounds per game.

Located in Medford, Ma., Tufts finished their regular season at 18-6 and 6-4 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). They went 1-1 in the NESCAC postseason. Tufts defeated Middlebury College on Feb. 18, but they lost to Hamilton College on Feb. 25. The Jumbos' lead scorer is senior Dylan Thoerner, averaging 15.4 points per game. No one else on the team averages more than 10. He's also one of their best three-point shooters at 43.3%.

This is the first time Widener and Tufts have faced off against one another in men's basketball.

Widener comes into this matchup with seven wins in their last eight, playoffs included. Tufts enters with two victories in their last three.

The winner of this game will advance to the second round and play the winner of Keene St. and Baruch on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

To view the full 2023 NCAA DIII Tournament Bracket, click here.