CHESTER, Pa. – Junior Eric Lewis missed all but two games last year due to injury and in the season opener did not perform well. That all changed on Sunday (Nov. 16) as he returned to form from two seasons ago when he was named First Team All-MIAA. Lewis scored a team-high 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and also grabbed seven rebounds in a 74-66 win over Penn State-Lehigh Valley in the second game of the Widener Tip-Off.
Adrian (1-1) put up a much-improved point total on the scoreboard in this one and did so by getting to the free throw line and attacking the basket. The Bulldogs shot 20-of-29 at the charity stripe as senior Curtis Gordon led the team going 8-of-10. Gordon finished with 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 26 minutes.
Sophomore Justin Webster recorded his second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Webster converted 4-of-8 from the floor and 6-of-9 at the free throw stripe in 33 minutes. Junior Rickey Jackson, Jr. had a superb day shooting the basketball going 8-of-12 including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Junior Ben Rodak had a great all-around game finishing with seven points, six rebounds and five assists in 35 minutes.
The first six-plus minutes of the game saw neither team lead by more than four points. Adrian went on a 10-0 run over two-plus minutes to build a 21-10 advantage with 11:10 left in the first half. PSU-Lehigh Valley came right back with a 12-0 run themselves to take a 22-21 lead with 5:42 remaining in the half. The Bulldogs then scored eight of the next 11 points to regain a 29-25 lead with 3:50 to go in the half. Adrian went into the locker room up 32-29 and scored 18 points in the paint.
The Bulldogs opened up the second half by outscoring the Nittany Lions, 14-4, in the first 4:45 to take a 46-33 lead after a Lewis jumper. That run put the game firmly in control of the Bulldogs and they increased their lead to 56-37 with 11:34 left in the game after a Justin Webster jumper. The Nittany Lions did not cut the lead into single digits until 3:08 to play and were down just six at 66-60 with 1:33 to play. Adrian was able to hit a majority of their free throws down the stretch to secure their first win of the season.