News Release

CHESTER, Pa. — Top-seeded Widener suffered a gutwrenching 56-55 setback to second-seeded Messiah in the Commonwealth Conference final as Steve King nailed a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds remaining.

Widener (21-5), which trailed by as many as nine in the second half, took a 53-50 lead with 50 seconds left when junior Malcolm Thomas buried a 3-pointer from the right corner.

King missed a 3-pointer and senior Kris Clarkson, the conference Player of the Year, hauled in the rebound. He made 1-of-2 from the stripe for a 54-50 contest with 34 seconds left.

Clarkson got a steal on the Falcons’ next possession, but stepped out of bounds as he dribbled with 22 seconds to play. Matt Henninger got Messiah (18-9) within 54-53 on a 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining.

Senior Brooke Tidswell was fouled on Widener’s next possession and missed two free throws. But Thomas came up with a huge rebound on the second miss and made 1-of-2 from the stripe with 8.2 seconds left for a 55-53 lead.

Messiah rushed it up the court and got the ball to King, who hit a 25-footer from the left wing for the seventh lead change of the second half. Widener fired a long pass to Clarkson, who had his 10-footer bounce off the rim at the buzzer.

King finished with 12 points on four 3-pointers, Jared Yoder had 10 points and eight rebounds, Darryl Brown netted 10 points and Dan Snyder corralled 13 rebounds. This helped Messiah shoot 42 percent (20-of-48) overall and 48 percent (11-of-23) in the second half.

Clarkson poured in 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds with Thomas netting 13 points for the Pioneers, who shot only 33 percent (19-of-57) from the floor and 65 percent (13-of-20) from the line.

Messiah earned the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament. The teams will be announced Sunday night and the pairings will be set Monday morning.

Widener will wait to see if it receives an at-large bid to the tournament. It would be the school’s 15th such appearance.

Messiah vs Widener
2/25/06 3:00 pm at Chester, PA
At Chester, PA
MESSIAH 56, WIDENER 55
MESSIAH (18-9)
Steve King 4-7 0-0 12; Jared Yoder 4-7 2-2 10; Darryl Brown 4-10 2-3 10;
Drew Sneeringer 2-2 1-2 7; Matt Henninger 2-5 0-0 6; Zach Wiernicki 2-8 2-2
6; Dan Snyder 2-5 1-1 5; Quinn Mccullough 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 8-10 56.
WIDENER (21-5)
Kris Clarkson 6-16 2-5 14; Malcolm Thomas 4-13 4-5 13; Nyere Miller 2-3 0-0
6; Brooke Tidswell 3-4 0-2 6; Ron Michael 1-1 4-4 6; Essien Ford 2-11 1-2 6;
Brandon Blakey 0-6 2-2 2; Wyatt Haas 1-2 0-0 2; Terry Smith 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 19-57 13-20 55.
Messiah.......................   24   32  -   56
Widener.......................   26   29  -   55
3-point goals-Messiah 8-23 (Steve King 4-6; Matt Henninger 2-4; Drew
Sneeringer 2-2; Zach Wiernicki 0-2; Dan Snyder 0-2; Quinn Mccullough 0-4;
Darryl Brown 0-2; Jared Yoder 0-1), Widener 4-14 (Nyere Miller 2-2; Essien
Ford 1-5; Malcolm Thomas 1-4; Brandon Blakey 0-3). Fouled out--Messiah-Quinn
Mccullough, Widener-None. Rebounds-Messiah 38 (Dan Snyder 13), Widener 33
(Kris Clarkson 8). Assists-Messiah 6 (Quinn Mccullough 2; Drew Sneeringer
2), Widener 7 (Brandon Blakey 4). Total fouls-Messiah 19, Widener 13.
Commonwealth Conference Final; Seeds: Widener #1, Messiah #2
Messiah earns automatic berth into NCAA Tournament