Widener University Men’s Basketball NCAA Tournament • Schwartz Center • Mar. 6-7, 2009 Notes: Widener (22-5, 10-2 CC), champions of the Commonwealth Conference, 2008-09 Widener Pride Schedule/Results (22-5, 10-2 CC) is in the NCAA Tournament for the 17th time. The squad owns an 18-18 mark NOVEMBER in the tournament, including 4-3 over the three previous seasons. The Pride have Sat. 15 vs. Montclair State ! W 60-56 won 15 Middle Atlantic/Commonwealth Conference titles in their history and Sun. 16 at King’s ! L 67-80 made it three straight crowns for the first time since 1976-78. They are playing Tue. 18 at Neumann W 68-67 Fri. 21 Penn State Brandywine # W 106-53 in the NCAA Tournament four straight years for the first time since 1975-78 Sat. 22 York (PA) # W 87-75 and have won a game in this tournament three straight years for the first time Tue. 25 Richard Stockton L 66-80 in school annals. Widener in 2006 advanced to the “Sweet 16” for the seventh DECEMBER time and first since 1987. Wed. 3 at Valley Forge Christian W 88-56 Mon. 8 Gwynedd-Mercy L 76-86 Wed. 10 at Rowan W 73-60 How We Got Here: Widener won its 15th conference title with last Saturday’s Sat. 13 #15 Gettysburg W 80-75 69-67 victory over Elizabethtown. Charles Jones scored 12 points to be named JANUARY tournament MVP and fellow senior Matt Sosna posted 11 and 10 rebounds. Fri. 2 vs. St. Lawrence ^ W 97-93 Jones ended the tournament with 31 points and eight rebounds over two games. Sat. 3 at Buffalo State ^ W 87-71 Wed. 7 Albright * W 91-63 Sosna and Jones scored 19 points apiece for the Pride, who notched a 76-61 Sun. 11 at Lycoming * L 53-60 home semifinal victory February 25 against Messiah. Widener clinched the Sat. 17 at Elizabethtown * W 80-69 No. 1 seed for the first time since 2006 by virtue of a 10-2 league record. The Tue. 20 Arcadia * W 73-51 Pride also notched key non-conference wins, upending No. 15 Gettysburg on Sat. 24 Messiah * W 80-77 December 13 and winning both its Oki Data Americas Tip-Off and the Buffalo Mon. 26 at Immaculata W (ot) 75-66 Wed. 28 at Lebanon Valley * L 75-85 State Holiday Inn Invitational. FEBRUARY Tue. 3 at Arcadia * W 68-62 Head Coach Chris Carideo: In his third year as Widener’s coach, Chris Carideo Sat. 7 Elizabethtown * W 66-62 enters the weekend with a 60-24 record here and a 146-75 career mark in eight Wed. 11 at Albright * W 64-51 Sat. 14 Lycoming * W 70-55 years. During his time in Chester as coach, Carideo has led Widener to three Tue. 17 Lebanon Valley * W 69-49 Commonwealth Conference titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances. Sat. 21 at Messiah * W 77-58 He is the first coach in the history of Widener athletics to coach their team to Wed. 25 Messiah % W 76-61 the NCAA Tournament in each of their first three years. His effort this season Sat. 28 Elizabethtown % W 67-65 helped him to be named Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year. A MARCH Fri. 6 Virginia Wesleyan $ 8:00 pm 1996 Widener alum and 1995 All-America, Carideo arrived after five seasons as Sat. 7 RIT/Salem State $ 7:00 pm coach at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, leading the squad to two NCAA Tournament appearances (2002, 2003). He sported an 86-51 mark in that span. * Commonwealth Conference game ! Ramada Inn/Monarch Classic (Wilkes-Barre, PA) Carideo was an assistant at Widener in 1995-96 and again from 1998-2000, # Oki Data Americas Tip-Off (Chester, PA) helping the squad to the 2000 Middle Atlantic Conference title. As a player at ^ Buffalo State Holiday Inn Invitational (Buffalo, NY) Widener, he was named All-America as a senior in 1995 and first team All-MAC % Commonwealth Conference Tournament all four years. He is second in school history with 2,067 points and still holds $ NCAA Tournament the Division III record with a 3-pointer in 75 straight games. Keepin’ up with the Jones: Senior Charles Jones again has provided tremendous scoring production and deservedly was tabbed Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year. It is the second straight year he was tabbed first team and last season he was picked second team all-district. Entering the weekend, he leads the league with 17.2 points per game, is third with 2.11 steals per contest, 10th with a 1.00 assist-to-turnover ratio and 11th with 1.3 three-pointers per game. It’s Miller Time: Senior Nyere Miller gives Widener a tremendous amount of leadership in his third year as a starter. Miller enters the weekend leading the league with 3.42 steals per game, is 18th with 9.1 points per contest, ninth with a .383 three-point percentage, sixth with 2.04 three- pointers per game and fourth with 30.50 minutes played per contest. “Sos” Getting it Done, On and Off the Court: Senior Matt Sosna has been the man in the post in his second year as the starting center and was named second team all-conference. On the court, he enters the weekend sixth in the league with 14.0 points per game, first with a .608 shooting percentage, fifth with 7.0 rebounds per contest, fifth with a .795 free throw percentage and second with a .456 three-point percentage. Off the court, Sosna was named second team CoSIDA Academic All-America. He is the 44th Academic All-America in school history and the 32nd to www.WidenerPride.com • www.mascac.org • 610-499-4600 (6) be named either first or second team. Sosna also has been namedCoSIDA COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE STANDINGS first team Academic All-District in 2008 and 2009 with a 3.938 GPA in CC Pct. Ovr. Pct. Civil Engineering. He also was picked to last year’s Philadelphia Inquirer 1. Widener * 10-2 .833 22-5 .800 Academic All-Area Team and is a three-time member of the Middle Atlantic 2. Albright * 8-4 .667 17-9 .680 Conference Academic Honor Roll. 3. Elizabethtown * 7-5 .583 14-12 .542 4. Messiah * 6-6 .500 9-17 .360 “JJ” in the Post: Junior Jamarr Johnson has played solidly of late, scoring 5. Lebanon Valley 4-8 .333 12-13 .480 in double figures five of the last six contests. Entering the weekend, he is Lycoming 4-8 .333 11-13 .458 10th in the league with 5.1 rebounds per game, second with a .581 field 7. Arcadia 3-9 .250 8-17 .320 goal percentage and fourth with 22 blocks. GENERAL INFORMATION Edmunds Makes His Point: Junior Bobby Edmunds enters the weekend fifth in the league with 3.32 assists per game, ninth with 1.59 steals per Founded/Enrollment ..........................................1821/2,350 contest, fifth with a 1.43 assist-to-turnover ratio and 11th at 28.73 minutes Nickname ....................................................................Pride played per game. Colors ............................................... Widener Blue & Gold Conference ......................Middle Atlantic (Commonwealth) “We’re Going Streaking”: Widener has enjoyed its share of winning streaks Athletics Web Site .......................... www.WidenerPride.com this season, riding bursts of eight, five and four games. The eight-game President ........................................... Dr. James T. Harris III run matches the longest under coach Chris Carideo as the 2007-08 squad Director of Athletics ............................................Jack Shafer began the season 8-0. Senior Woman Administrator .....Larissa Gillespie ‘98, M ’00 Assistant Athletic Director ........................ Chris Carideo ‘96 Among the Nation’s and Region’s Best: Widener was preseason ranked No. Head Athletic Trainer ................AJ Duffy III, MS, ATC, PT Assistant Athletic Trainer ..............................Bridget Wiseley 7 by Small College Hoops.com and 23rd by D3Hoops.com. The Pride also were as high as third in the NCAA Middle Atlantic Regional rankings. Sports Information Director .......................... Derek Crudele Phone .............................................................610-499-4436 Among the NCAA Leaders: Senior Nyere Miller enters the weekend sixth E-Mail ............................................. [email protected] in the country with 3.42 steals per game, helping Widener stand 10th at Sports Information Hotline ......................610-499-4600 (6) 11.4. Senior Matt Sosna enters the weekend 17th in the nation with a .608 COACHING STAFF shooting percentage. Head Coach ................................................... Chris Carideo Alma Mater, Year ...........................................Widener, 1996 Against The Field: Widener is 2-2 against teams in the NCAA Tournament. Overall Record (Yrs.) ........................................... 146-75 (8) The squad beat then No. 15 Gettysburg, 80-75, on December 13 and St. Record at Widener (Yrs.) ....................................... 60-24 (3) Lawrence, 97-93, on January 2. The Pride were handed an 80-66 loss by Assistant Coaches (Yrs.) ............................ Ian Simon ‘01 (6) Richard Stockton on November 25 and an 86-76 setback by Gwynedd- ........................................................................Bill Leahy (2) Mercy on December 8. .................................................................Louis Becht Jr. (1) No. Name Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Previous School pro-NUN-c-A-shun 3 BJ Smith Fr. G 5-8 160 Baltimore, MD/Overlea Aaquil Atkins 5 ** Jamarr Johnson Jr. F 6-5 205 Pittsgrove, NJ/Schalick .............................uh-KEEL 10 *** Tracy Jones Sr. F 6-3 208 Indian Head, MD/Henry E. Lackey Chris Carideo 12 Justin Grotevant Fr. F 6-4 225 Canadensis, PA/Pocono Mountain E. 13 *** Nyere Miller Sr. G 6-0 170 Washington, DC/Gonzaga Coll. HS ........................cuh-RID-e-o 14 * Chris McDevitt So. G 6-1 185 Doylestown, PA/C.B. West Onyi Ezeala 20 ** Bobby Edmunds Jr. G 5-10 151 Linwood, NJ/Mainland .................O-nay e-ZAH-la 21 Perry Wright Fr.