Widener women come back strong, Swat, Eastern men advance
Facing a nine-point halftime deficit away from home Friday night in the opening round of the NCAA Division III tournament, Widener’s women’s basketball team didn’t panic. Instead, the Pride got to work.
Mia Robbins scored the first five points of the second half, and Widener pulled away after the break to beat Springfield College, 57-50, in Lewiston, Maine. The win is the first in the tournament for Widener (24-4) since 2013. It’s only its second berth since then.
Widener shook a rough shooting night, hitting of just 16 of 53 attempts (30.2 percent). But it turned up the defense in the second half, holding Springfield for 5-for-34 shooting in the second half (14.7 percent).
The Pride trailed 35-26 at the break, but Robbins whittled that in half with two free throws, a layup and another free throw. Three of Widener’s five made 3-pointers came in the frame, with Gianna Samuels and Lia Samuels hitting on back-to-back possessions. The latter punctuated a 13-2 run to give Widener a 39-37 lead.
Jordan D’Ambrosio, the Springfield High All-Delco, had an answer for Springfield College by making a triple with 45 seconds left in the frame to send the teams to the fourth tied at 42. A Robbins layup with 3:42 left put Widener up for good, and it was 5-for-6 from the line in the game’s final 90 seconds.
Gianna Samuels led all scorers with 16 points. Robbins paired 13 points with eight rebounds. D’Ambrosio had eight points, and Lia Samuels had seven points and five steals off the bench.
Angel Czeremcha led Springfield with 16 points and eight boards. Amanda Leary added 14 points. Springfield was only 1-for-15 from 3-point range and committed 24 turnovers.
Widener will play the winner of host Bates and Brooklyn College at 6:30 Saturday for a trip to the Sweet 16.
Men’s Basketball
For the first time in program history, Eastern University won an NCAA Tournament game, downing The College of New Jersey, 8079, in Keene, New Hampshire. The Eagles tied the program record for wins in a season at 21 (2022).
Kaeshawn Ward supplied a 3-point play, then a 3-pointer on an 8-0 run with 7:41 left that put Eastern up for good, creating separation in a back-and-forth affair. A Ward 3-pointer with 3:59 left put Eastern up nine, but TCNJ would rally. A team that pulled three straight upsets to win the NJAC, the Lions got within 1 with 1:19 left on two Alexandre David free throws.
But Arkese Claiborne answered with a layup off a Zubair Lee feed to restore a 3-point bump with 53 ticks remaining. Nick Koch hit two free throws to get back within 1 with 45 seconds left, and the teams combined to miss three shots in the final 19 seconds, TCNJ bricking two in the paint with a chance to lead.
Eastern (21-7) shot 51.2 percent from the field, led by Claiborne’s 7-for-9 for 17 points. Jaron Fairweather paired 18 points with eight rebounds. Ward had 16 points and six assists. Lee posted a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds. Eastern blocked nine shots.
Matthew Solomon was terrific for TCNJ with 16 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Koch had 16 points, and James Beckwith added 15.
Eastern will play the winner of host Keene State and Marymount (Va.) in the second round on Saturday
at 6:15 p.m.
SWARTHMORE 67, VIRGINIA WESLEYAN 59 » Make it 10 straight wins and 13 of the last14 for the Garnet, who led 37-19 at halftime to coast to a win in Hartford, Conn.
Swat left the Marlins high and dry in the first half, shooting just 9-for-37 (24.3 percent) from the field. Wesleyan was 3-for-17 from 3-point range on the game.
Swarthmore led 23-4 and held a 31-8 edge with 5:10 left in the first half when Eddie Paquette splashed home a 3-pointer. Wesleyan got within five in the second half, but a
5-0 spurt by Michael Caprise and a Vinny DeAngelo 3-pointer restored a 64-54 edge with 1:40 left and put the game out of reach.
Caprise dominated with 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting and 14 rebounds. DeAngelo shook a rough shooting night (4-for-15) to score 17 points and dish eight assists. He was 7-for-7 at the line. Cal Hanson added seven points. Nine players scored for Swarthmore.
Next for the Garnet (21-8) is the winner of host Trinity and Utica. The Round of 32 game tips off Saturday at 6:30.