News Release

CHESTER, Pa. — A go-ahead jumper by junior Malcolm Thomas was negated by four points from Messiah in the closing seconds as Widener suffered a heartbreaking 66-62 Commonwealth Conference loss at Schwartz Center.

Widener (20-4, 10-4 CC), which gave up the game’s first 11 points and held an eight-point margin early in the second half, grabbed a 59-56 cushion with 2:40 left on Thomas’ 3-pointer. Jared Yoder nailed two free throws for Messiah with 2:21 remaining for a one-point game and Zach Wiernicki made a jumper with 1:35 to play for a 60-59 lead.

Senior Brandon Blakey made one from the stripe with 1:22 left for a tie game before Thomas came through. He pulled up from 15 feet and drilled a jumper with 12 seconds remaining to give the Pioneers a 62-60 cushion.

Messiah then took over in dramatic fashion. Yoder had his shot blocked in the post by senior forward Ron Michael and Steve King grabbed the offensive rebound. King found Darryl Brown for the tying layup and a foul by Michael with 2.8 seconds left for a 62-62 tie.

Brown missed the free throw, but Yoder grabbed the offensive rebound and hit a putback with 0.9 seconds remaining to snap the Pioneers’ five-game winning streak.

Junior Essien Ford scored 17 points and Thomas netted 12 for Widener, which shot 43 percent (24-of-56) from the field.

Yoder had 18 points and 13 rebounds, Wiernicki netted 16 points and Brown added 10 for the Falcons (16-9, 9-5), who clinched the No. 2 seed in the Commonwealth Conference Tournament and will host a semifinal game Wednesday. Messiah shot 50 percent (12-of-24) in the second half and owned a 39-29 rebounding edge overall.

Widener, which already clinched the No. 1 seed, also will have a home game Wednesday against an opponent to be determined. Tip-off is at 7:00 pm.

Messiah vs Widener
2/18/06 3:20 pm at Chester, PA
At Chester, PA
MESSIAH 66, WIDENER 62
MESSIAH (16-9, 9-5 CC)
Jared Yoder 8-17 2-2 18; Zach Wiernicki 6-14 3-5 16; Darryl Brown 4-8 2-5
10; Steve King 2-7 3-4 8; Matt Henninger 3-3 0-0 8; Dan Snyder 1-4 0-0 3;
Quinn Mccullough 1-5 0-0 3; Drew Sneeringer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 10-16
66.
WIDENER (20-4, 10-4 CC)
Essien Ford 7-13 0-0 17; Malcolm Thomas 5-13 1-2 12; Ron Michael 2-4 5-6 9;
Brandon Blakey 3-6 3-6 9; Kris Clarkson 4-12 0-1 8; Brooke Tidswell 2-3 0-0
4; Wyatt Haas 1-3 0-0 3; Terry Smith 0-2 0-0 0; Nyere Miller 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 24-56 9-15 62.
Messiah.......................   30   36  -   66
Widener.......................   29   33  -   62
3-point goals-Messiah 6-16 (Matt Henninger 2-2; Steve King 1-3; Quinn
Mccullough 1-3; Dan Snyder 1-1; Zach Wiernicki 1-3; Darryl Brown 0-2; Jared
Yoder 0-2), Widener 5-12 (Essien Ford 3-7; Wyatt Haas 1-2; Malcolm Thomas
1-2; Brandon Blakey 0-1). Fouled out--Messiah-None, Widener-Kris Clarkson.
Rebounds-Messiah 39 (Jared Yoder 13), Widener 29 (Kris Clarkson 6; Ron
Michael 6). Assists-Messiah 7 (Steve King 3), Widener 7 (Essien Ford 3).
Total fouls-Messiah 13, Widener 17. A-485