2/29/08

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.—Lycoming’s men’s basketball team will take on Widener in the Commonwealth Conference championship game on Saturday, March 1 at 3 p.m. in Lamade Gymnasium.

It will be the third meeting between the schools this season. The Pride defeated the Warriors 70-65 at Schwartz Center on Jan. 26, while Lycoming won a 75-68 contest at Lamade Gym on Feb. 9. The winner of the championship game will get an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.

The Warriors’ David Wilson (Pottsville, Pa.) hit six 3-pointers on his way to 23 points in the conference semi-final game on Wednesday. Lycoming defeated Lebanon Valley 71-56 at Lamade to reach the championship. Junior forward Greg Sye (Chantilly, Va.) led the team with six rebounds.

Widener is led by first-team all-conference guard Charles Jones’ 15.9 points per game, which ranks third among conference scorers. Guard Bobby Edmunds joins Jones on the all-conference squad as a second-team guard.

The Pride received votes in the D3Hoops.com Top-25 for eight straight weeks during the first half of the 2007-08 season. Widener was last year’s Commonwealth champion and has been to the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons.

Lycoming is led by first-team all-conference point guard Eric Anthony’s (Wheeling, W.V.) 14.4 points per game and junior forward Sye’s 6.1 rebounds per game. Sye and senior Kevin Morris (Camp Hill, Pa.) both made 2008 second-team all-conference. Head coach Don Friday earned his second Coach of the Year award this season. His first came after the 2004-05 campaign.

In the teams’ first meeting of 2007-08, Warrior center Ricky Varnell (Patterson, N.Y.) came on strong at the end of the game to total 13 points, while Morris and Anthony each scored 11 in the loss. Defensively, Lycoming held Jones to 10 points, but Widener’s Edmunds and Tracy Jones scored 15 and 12 points, respectively, to pick up the slack.

On Feb. 9 in Lamade, Charles Jones recorded 26 points, while Nyere Miller scored 21, but Sye, Wilson, Morris and Anthony all scored in double-digits as the Warriors pulled ahead late and used solid foul shooting to seal their victory.