CHESTER, Pa.—The Hood College men's basketball team (12-9, 6-8 Commonwealth) defeated Widener University (5-16, 4-10 Commonwealth) 61-53 to keep the team's conference playoff hopes alive Saturday afternoon. With the win Hood swept the season series between the two sides and has also won back to back to road games in the conference for the first time this season.
Hood was led by junior guard Cameron Cook, who scored 18 points on 5-8 shooting from the floor. Cook was literally perfect in the second half, going 5-5 from the floor, including 3-3 from three. The junior scored 16 of his 18 points after halftime and also matched a season high in rebounds with nine.
Senior forward Justin Stone also had a big game, netting 16 points in the contest. Stone was 6-10 from the floor and found his shooting touch when the Blazers needed it most. As valuable as Cook was in the second half, Stone was that valuable in the first stanza. Stone scored almost half the Blazer points in the first half and was crucial for the Blazers all game. Widener was led by forward Rodney Brown, who scored 12 points on the afternoon.
Neither team was able to get their offense going in the first half with the game turning into a defensive battle. Hood started taking advantage of Stone's matchup and it was paying dividends with the senior using his versatility to get good looks. Stone hit a layup underneath and then a three to give Hood its first lead of the game at 14-12. Both teams traded baskets into the break with Widener holding a 23-21 lead at intermission.
Widener carried its lead in the second half until two Stone layups on back to back possessions gave Hood a 29-27 lead. Cook then hit three shots in less than three minutes to propel Hood to a 39-36 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the second half.
Hood then took control with a 14-5 run during a critical juncture of the game to give themselves some breathing space. Freshman Davon Hill hit a layup and a foul shot to get the run started and two Cook jumpers forced Widener to take a timeout. Two Stone free throws concluded the run with the Blazers leading 53-44 with 3:04 remaining.
The Pioneers would not go away though and a Brown three dwindled Hood's lead down to two at 53-51 with just 1:45 remaining. Two was as close as Widener would get though, as senior Trey Quinn hit two big free throws to push the lead back to four with just over a minute to play. Hood made enough free throws down the stretch to take its second straight conference road victory and keep its postseason hopes alive.
The Blazers will return to action this Wednesday when they take on Albright College in conference action at BB&T Arena. The game is set to begin at 8 p.m.