CHESTER, Pa. – Sophomore Sean Mayberry totaled 21 points and 12 rebounds and had the game-winning layup with five seconds left as Stevenson University downed Widener University 65-64 in MAC Commonwealth men's basketball Saturday at the Schwartz Center.
Mayberry matched his career high in scoring by going 9-19 from the floor while his 12 rebounds are also a career high. Senior Christian Roberts added 12 points for Stevenson (3-5, 2-1 MAC Commonwealth), while classmate Erik Fisher added nine points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Kendall Green and Marquis Powell paced the Pride (4-5, 0-2 MAC Commonwealth) with 15 points apiece.
Stevenson, which had not led since seven minutes into the contest, found itself down 63-57 with just over three minutes left following a Powell three. A layup by Ryan Hill cut the lead to four with 2:02 to go, then following a turnover by the hosts, Fisher sank a pair at the line to make it 63-61 with 1:24 left.
Green was fouled in the next Widener possession and made 1-of-2 at the line to make it 64-61 with 1:17 to go. Joe Kiely was fouled with 58 seconds left and made both free throws to cut the Pride lead to one, 64-63. With 28 seconds left, Powell missed a shot attempt, with Hill coming down with the rebound.
Coming out of a Stevenson timeout, Mayberry missed his initial shot, but his putback with five seconds remaining gave the Mustangs their first lead of the second half. A Laron Byrd attempt as time expired was off the mark for Widener.
Stevenson scored the game's first four points, but a 9-4 run capped by a Powell layup gave the Pride a 16-10 lead with 10:22 left in the first half. An 8-2 spurt capped by a basket by Roberts tied the game 18-18 with just under eight minutes to go, but Powell put Widener back on top on its next possession. A Roberts three tied the game 27-27 with 3:17 left, but the hosts closed the half on a 10-4 run to take a 37-31 lead into the locker room.
The Mustangs cut the lead to one four times in the first part of the second half, but could not tie or take the lead, with a Mayberry layup with 11:37 left making it 44-43 in favor of the Pride. The Pride led 56-55 when it used a 7-2 spurt to go up six.
Both teams shot 39.3% for the contest, but Stevenson was 4-12 behind the arc while the Pride connected on just one of their 14 three-point attempts. Widener was 15-23 at the free throw line while the Mustangs went 11-20 at the charity stripe, but the guests held a 49-35 rebound advantage, including 15-7 on the offensive glass that led to a 17-10 Stevenson lead in second chance points.
Stevenson is idle until next Saturday, December 19, when it faces Plattsburgh State at the HoopMIA D3 Holiday Shootout in Miami at 2:00 pm.