The Widener University men’s basketball team is scheduled to play at 3 PM today in the Division III NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Widener automatically got into the tournament after winning the MAC Commonwealth Championship against Alvernia University in a 74-69 game, writes Matt Leon for KYW Newsradio.

The last time the 19-8 Widener Pride took a conference title was in 2009.

Coach Chris Carideo is thrilled to have his team back in the field even after so much time.

“I really was anxious for my team to experience it, my new coaches to experience it and it’s everything I remember,” he said. “The elation that you have and just watching your team play with greatness for that time, and then seeing them celebrate afterward, it’s why you do it.”

Widener will take on Tufts University today in the first round in Keene, New Hampshire.

In the Pride’s game against Alvernia, Widener saw four players hit double-digit scoring, according to a Widener University release.  

Kenny Lewis and Kevin Schenk tied for 16 points each, while Dominic Dunn and Pat Holden had 15 and 12 respectively.

Dunn was named the MAC Commonwealth Championship MVP. For the season, he leads the Pride with 492 total points and averages 18.2 points per game.

Holden, the graduate student guard, paces the team with 106 rebounds while averaging 14 points per game and 4.1 assists per game.

Pride forward Lewis comes into the tournament with 221 season rebounds and over 700 career rebounds. Lewis averages 8.2 rebounds per game.

This is the first time the Widener Pride and Tufts have faced off against one another in men’s basketball.

Widener comes into this matchup with seven wins in their last eight, playoffs included. Tufts enters with two victories in their last three.

The winner of this game will advance to the second round and play the winner of Keene St. and Baruch on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Find out more about the Pride’s rise to the NCAA basketball tournament at KYW Newsradio and at Widener University.