A gut punch for #13 Widener Men's Basketball gives them their first loss in the Schwartz Center.
The 98-68 loss puts the Pride at 23-4 on the season with a MAC Commonwealth record of 12-2.

BY THE NUMBERS
Anthony Dicaro (6'2''-G) led the Pride with 13 points and a steal.
Howie Rankine (6'0''-PG) and Steven Matlack (6'5''-G/F) saw 12 points a piece with Rankine leading the rebound game with nine.
Off the bench, Luke Mazur (5'11''-PG) saw 11 points in 18 minutes.
The Pride shot 39.1% from the floor and saw 32 points in the paint with 13 fast break points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Pride opened hot with Kevin Schenk scoring the first Blue and Gold points. Minutes later Schenk would drain a triple to send the crowd in cheers. A defensive rebound from Howie Rankine would transition into a fast break jumper and Steven Matlack drained a triple to give them a six-point lead. The hot streak continued for the Pride as Matlack would hit another triple and later Rankine snagged four points to go up by seven. Rankine's four points started an 11-4 run. Right at the halfway mark, Schenk continued to put points on the board with a good layup. Luke Mazur saw his first triple with 7:48 on the clock. The Eagles would claw their way back into the game as the Pride defense fell flat. Heading into halftime, the Pride were down 48-46.
Out of half, Matlack tied the game at 49 with DiCaro pushing the Pride over 50. Dominic Dunn (6'5''-F) saw a good jumper to lead into DiCaro's jumper. A stretch of Eagles offense stunned the Pride as they found themselves up 10. Mazur would cut the lead back down with a good triple. The hot streaked Eagles would hold the Pride to six more points in the final six minutes of the game. A pair of free throws from Matlack, a Rankine layup, and a Mazur layup with 20 seconds left would close out the game. The Pride would fall 98-69 in the championship game.

Courtesy of widenerpride.com

MAC Commonwealth Final: Widener - Eastern 69-98

MAC Commonwealth Semifinals:
Widener - Alvernia 80-70
Hood - Eastern 72-86

Player of the Year: Dominic Dunn (6'5''-F) of Widener
Defensive Player of the Year: Zubair Lee (6'7''-F) of Eastern
Rookie of the Year: Alex Cercado (5'10''-PG) of Alvernia
Coach of the Year: Chad Dickman of Hood

All-MACC 1st Team 2024

Dunn

Fairweather

Cipalla

Linton

Lee

First Team
Dominic Dunn (6'5''-F) of Widener
Jaron Fairweather (6'4''-G) of Eastern
Kai Cipalla (6'4''-F) of York, PA
Garrison Linton (6'4''-G) of Hood
Zubair Lee (6'7''-F) of Eastern

All-MACC Second Team 2024

Schenk

Cox

Rankine

Cooke

Ward

Second Team
Kevin Schenk (6'6''-G/F) of Widener
Garrett Cox (6'7''-F) of Hood
Howie Rankine (6'0''-PG) of Widener
Nigel Cooke (6'1''-G) of Alvernia
Kaeshawn Ward (5'10''-PG) of Eastern

All-MACC Honorable Mention 2024

Chamberlain

Kelly

Smith

Dicaro

Honorable Mention
Eric Chamberlain (6'0''-PG) of Albright
Jakob Kelly (6'4''-F) of Alvernia
Cameron Smith (6'7''-F) of Stevenson
Anthony Dicaro (6'2''-G) of Widener

First-year Tommy Scholl (6'3''-G) scored a career-high 16 points, including going 4/4 from three-point range, as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team defeated #1 DeSales 54-53 in the MAC Freedom Championship Saturday afternoon.
Scholl was named the tournament's most valuable player. The Ducks secured the MAC Freedom Championship for the third time since joining the conference and the first since the 2021-22 season. By winning the conference tournament, Stevens secures a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Ducks improved to 22-5 on the year. In what were two very close games, Stevens won both contests in the MAC Freedom Tournament by just a combined four points. DeSales loses to their first MAC Freedom opponent since the 2022-23 season, falling to 24-3 on the year.
The two teams had championship jitters, as the game was low scoring throughout the majority of the first half. Stevens didn't score until the 17:12 mark as graduate student Stephen Braunstein (6'3''-G) made a jumper. The next Duck field goal came two minutes later from graduate student Conor Coffey (6'4''-G). DeSales would go up 12-6 before first-year Kyle Maddison made a triple for the visitors. Scholl would make his first three with 8:31 left in the half to get the Ducks within one. DeSales would go streaking to end the half, and take a 27-19 lead into the break.
Stevens quickly got to within three to start the second as first-year Xander Singh made a basket followed by a triple from junior Jack Spellman (6'9''-F). DeSales then went on a 13-4 run to take their largest lead of the game at 13. From there, it was all Ducks, with Scholl scoring the next four to bring the deficit back down to single digits. With 9:29 to go, Singh made a three from the top of the key that made it 42-34. Just a few minutes later, Spellman converted an and-one inside the paint that cut the home side's lead to five. Singh would score the next three followed by a tough driving layup from first-year Richard Machado that tied the game at 44 with just under five minutes remaining. DeSales went up four with 4:21 to go, but Scholl came back with another triple 13 seconds later. Singh scored the next four for Stevens, taking their first leads of the game and leading 51-50. On the next possession, Scholl remained hot as he drilled a corner triple to extend the Duck lead with 2:15 on the clock. DeSales would not go away, making a three with just over a minute left to make it a one-point game. With just eight seconds remaining now, DeSales missed the go ahead three, which was rebounded by Scholl. On the other end, Scholl missed both free throws, and DeSales secured the rebound. The Bulldogs then went the length of the floor and got fouled with two seconds left, still trailing by one. Head coach Bobby Hurley called timeout prior to the free throws, potentially "icing" the DeSales shooter. The Bulldogs would end up missing both, and time expired on the chase for the rebound as Stevens secured the victory and the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Top Performers
Scholl also added four rebounds.
Singh scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Spellman had nine points and nine rebounds.
Braunstein and Machado provided four assists.
Stevens shot 35.4 percent (17-48) from the field and 40.9 percent (9-22) from three. The Ducks also went 11-18 (61.1%) from the line.

The Opponent
Will Bowen (6'6''-F) scored 13 points.
Caleb Gibbs (6'7''-F) had 10 points and 19 rebounds.
Mason Barnes (6'1''-G) had six points, six assists, and seven rebounds.
DeSales shot 33.8 percent (22-65) from the field and 23.1 percent (6-26) from three. They also went 3-7 from the free throw line (42.9%).

Courtesy of Stevens Athletics

MAC Freedom Final: DeSales - Stevens 53-54

MAC Freedom Semifinals:
DeSales - Misericordia 83-67
Stevens - Arcadia 73-70

Player of the Year: Kevin Lazdowsky (6'5''-G) of Misericordia
Defensive Player of the Year: Jack Spellman (6'9''-F) of Stevens Tech
Rookie of the Year: Xander Singh (6'6''-F) of Stevens Tech
Coach of the Year: Scott Coval of DeSales

All-MACF 1st Team 2024

Lazdowsky

Braunstein

Watkins

Eberly

Johnson

First Team
Kevin Lazdowsky (6'5''-G) of Misericordia
Stephen Braunstein (6'3''-G) of Stevens Tech
Jalen Watkins (6'6''-F) of Arcadia
Elijah Eberly (6'4''-F) of DeSales
Nahseer Johnson (6'0''-PG) of Arcadia
Jack Spellman (6'9''-F) of Stevens Tech

All-MACF Second Team 2024

Barnes

Gibbs

Patton

Kreitzer

Harder

Second Team
Mason Barnes (6'1''-G) of DeSales
Caleb Gibbs (6'7''-F) of DeSales
Chris Patton (6'3''-G) of King's, PA
Nate Kreitzer (5'9''-PG) of Misericordia
Ryan Harder (6'5''-G) of Lebanon Valley

Honorable Mention
Conor Coffey (6'4''-G) of Stevens Tech
Mike Goodall (6'1''-G) of Stevens Tech
Evin Timochenko (6'6''-F) of Lebanon Valley