FREDERICK, Md. - The Hood College men's basketball team opened the game with an 18-6 run but needed to shoot 58 percent in the second half to pull way from Widener 90-77 in the semifinals of the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Championships.

The victory sends the Blazers to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game on Sunday, Feb. 27. Hood, seeded second, will travel to top-seeded Eastern for a 2 p.m. start. 

Inside the Box Score

• Mason Wang scored a team-high 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 4-for-8 from 3-point range, and had three steals.
• Evan Wang scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half. For the game, he shot 5-for-10 and went 8-for-8 at the free throw line. 
• Christopher Smalls and Bryce Butler scored 13 points apiece. Butler added game-highs with nine rebounds and five steals. 

How it Happened

• The opening tip went right to Mason Wang, who scored on an easy layup, starting a 22-8 run over the opening seven minutes and 16 seconds. Wang had nine points in the run as Hood made 10 of its first 15 field goal attempts. 
• The Blazers offense went silent over the half's final 12 minutes as Hood hit just three more field goals before halftime. Widener heated up, sinking 11 of its last 16 field goals and outscored the Blazers 27-15 to pull within two at the break 37-35. 
• A Matt Daulerio 3-pointer pulled the Pride within 44-43 with 16:43 remaining and Hood still led by just two, 49-47, after Daulerio scored again two and a half minutes later. Trumaine Strickland drove for a layup on the Blazers' next possession and sparked a 13-2 run. Evan Wang scored seven points in the run with Hood hitting all three of its field goals and going 5-for-6 at the line to take a 62-49 edge with 11:32 left. 
• The Pride cut the lead back to seven, 67-60, with 8:48 left on a Jared Peters 3-pointer. Mason Wang and Evan Wang each hit 3s for Hood in the next 90 seconds to quickly push the lead back to 73-60. Peters hit another 3-pointer with under five minutes left to cut it to 75-67. 
• Butler scored at the other end with 4:42 left, starting a 12-5 run. Soren Almquist punctuated the run with a dunk for Hood's biggest lead, 87-72, with only 1:35 to play. 

Analysis

• Both teams shot 48 percent in the contest. 
• Hood committed just nine turnovers in the game and held a 20-9 edge in points off turnovers, forcing Widener into 17 giveaways. 
• The Blazers went 26-for-34 at the free throw line in the game, while the Pride went 10-of-12. 
• Hood shot 40 percent on 3-point field goals. 

For the Opponent

• Daulerio had a game-high 25 in losing effort for the Pride. He went 10-for-16 shooting. 
• Peters and Pat Holden each scored 13 and Holden dished out five assists. 

Notes

• It is Hood's first trip to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game since joining the conference in 2012-13. 
• The Blazers last played for a conference championship in 2006-07 as members of the Capital Athletic Conference.