CHESTER, Pa. – Three-pointers from freshmen Tobias Walden (New York, N.Y./Southern Columbia) and Luke Finkbeiner (Warrenton, Va./Wakefield School) in the final minute gave the Lycoming College men's basketball team a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but undefeated Widener University was able to hold on for a 57-54 MAC Commonwealth win at the Schwartz Athletic Center on Saturday, Dec. 14.
 
Down by six with 1:22 left, freshman Mo Terry (Severn, Md./Severn School) got an offensive rebound, was fouled and hit the front end of a 1-and-1, then got his own rebound on the backend, which led to a 3-pointer up top by Walden to make it 53-51.
 
Widener (10-0 overall, 3-0 MAC Commonwealth) turned it over with 36 seconds left, but Lycoming (7-3 overall, 2-2 MAC Commonwealth) had a jumper fall of the mark. With Lycoming forced to foul, E.J. Boyd hit both free throws to make it 55-51 and Finkbeiner hit a 3-pointer in response with 6.8 seconds left to make it a one-point game. After fouling again, Jared Peters hit both free throws with 5.1 seconds left. Lycoming got the ball down the court, but a traveling violation ended their threat to tie it at the buzzer.
 
Freshman Dyson Harward (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) led the Warriors with 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks and junior D'Yante Doughty (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) posted 10 points, nine rebounds and two steals, as Lycoming shot just 37 percent (20-for-54) from the floor, which was still two percent better than Widener (18-for-51), which made up the difference by going 18-of-23 (78.3 percent) at the free throw line.
 
Lycoming cut the lead to a point with 18:10 left on a 3-pointer by Harward, but Widener responded with a 14-4 to make it 44-33 with 12:29 left. The Warriors chipped away at the lead, staying within eight in the final 11 minutes before an old-fashioned 3-point play from Harward and a jumper from Doughty made it 50-47 with 2:31 left. After a 3-point play from Connor Laverty with 1:22 left made it 53-47, the Warriors began their final rally.
 
Widener opened the game on a 20-9 run that took up the first 9:30 before the Warriors countered with a 10-4 run to close within five with 4:18 left in the first, as Terry led the run with five points. From there, both teams had six points to head into the break with the score, 30-25.
 
Peters led the Pride with 17 points and Boyd posted 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Laverty finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds and two steals.
 
The Warriors get back on the court after Christmas when they head to the Land of Magic Classic at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona, Fla., where they will face Union at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 28.