CHESTER, Pa. – A 38-point win for Widener Men's Basketball gives them an 8-0 record at home and the largest win of the season against Messiah in a Wednesday night matchup.
 
The 91-53 win advances the Pride to 14-2 in the regular season and 4-1 in MAC Commonwealth play.
 
Prior to the tip, the Men's Basketball team had a moment of silence for former teammate and assistant coach Connor Laverty.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Kevin Schenk led the Pride with 13 points and seven rebounds.
• Howie Rankine puts up 10 points with season high nine rebounds.
• Off the bench, Xavier Ernest split Schenk and Rankine with 12 points.
• Defensively, Schenk put up three blocks while Steven Matlack, Jay-Nelly Reyes, and Keith Gee each snagged two steals.
• The Pride shot 44.3% from the field and earned 56 points in the paint. 54 points were earned by the bench.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A slow start from both sides ends with a Matlack at the charity stripe to put two in for the first points of the game. Seconds before, Schenk saw his first block of the game. A Falcon favored rim gave the them a 13-8 lead but Anthony DiCaro flipped the script with a triple on a fast break to cut the lead to two and force the Falcons to call a quick timeout. DiCaro would tie the game out of the timeout after an Ernest steal. An even game until the halfway mark would end as the Pride took control with an 11-0 run. For the remainder of the half, the Falcons clawed at the lead but buckets from Rankine and Schenk kept the score to double digits. Heading into half, Schenk would add his second block and give the Pride a 39-25 lead.
• The Falcons first offensive possession was ended with a Dominic Dunn block giving Matt Daulerio the first Pride points of the second. Matlack would start another Pride run with a good triple. The 13-0 run was capped off with an Ernest layup. The score was 58-36 with 12:12 remaining. As time ticked under six minutes, Ethan Dodson, Sean Mizzoni, Ethan Fox, and Matt Johnson would see court time and earn points for the stat book. Another run for the Pride would seal the 14^th win of the season as Luke Mazur hit a triple to start the 16-0 run late in the game. Johnson capped off scoring with a good jumper to end the game 91-53.

UP NEXT
Widener continues continue their conference play with a home game on Saturday, Jan. 20 against the 9-7 (2-3 MAC Commonwealth) Albright Lions. Tip off is scheduled for 3 p.m. following the women's game.