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Widener clawed its way back from a second-half, double-digit deficit only to suffer a 69-67 loss to Salem State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Schwartz Center.
Salem State (23-6) advances to the sectional semifinals on Friday, March 13 against Franklin & Marshall at a time and site to be determined.
The Vikings looked in good shape courtesy of a 6-1 run to open a 56-46 lead, its biggest of the second half, with 11:39 left. Dan Clark capped the spurt on a 3-pointer.
But the never-say-die Pride (23-6) scored nine straight points to close to 56-55 with 8:40 remaining. Junior Bobby Edmunds (Linwood, NJ) netted four points in that run and senior Charles Jones (Philadelphia, PA), the Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year, capped it on a jumper.
At that point, it was anyone's game and the Pride were sure it was theirs. Widener (23-6) took its only lead of the second half, 61-60, with 3:35 left on a jumper from senior Nyere Miller (Washington, DC).
The Vikings then used a 6-1 run for a 66-62 bulge with 1:35 to go, courtesy of four points from Dylan Holmes. He ended the burst with two free throws.
Senior Matt Sosna (Stratford, NJ) canned two free throws with 1:08 remaining for a 66-64 contest. Brennan Bennett missed a free throw for the Vikings, Sosna could not hit a jumper and Clark missed two huge free throws with 31 seconds to go that kept it a two-point game.
But Salem State swooped away the momentum with Holmes grabbing Clark's second miss. Stevie Celestin took advantage of the huge play by making two from the stripe with 24 seconds to go for a 68-64 game.
Jones nailed a 3-pointer to close Widener's deficit to 68-67 with 19 seconds to go. Celestin hit 1-of-2 from the stripe with 14 seconds left for a two-point game to set up the final possession.
Jones missed a driving layup and junior Jamarr Johnson (Pittsgrove, NJ) grabbed it in a jump-ball situation with Widener having the arrow. With 2.0 seconds to go, Jones was given the chance to tie the game, but he had the ball knocked out of his hands for just the Pride's third home loss in 15 games this season.
Sosna, named second team CoSIDA Academic All-America, had 14 points and seven rebounds in his final game with Johnson adding 14 and four rebounds. Jones poured in 13 points in his last game and Edmunds posted 10 and seven assists for the Pride, who shot only 30 percent (8-of-27) in the second half and 41 percent (24-of-58) overall.
Holmes was on his game with 19 points and 11 rebounds, Nick Linear scored 17 and Ricky Ogboin had 13 and 10 rebounds for the Vikings, who shot 44 percent (27-of-62) overall.
Widener, champions of the Commonwealth Conference, was in the NCAA Tournament for the 17th time in school history. The Pride had their nine-game overall winning streak snapped and were denied an eighth trip to the “Sweet 16.”
Linear scored 13 points in the first half and Holmes netted 10, giving Salem State a 42-38 halftime lead.
