CHESTER, Pa. - The Gallaudet University men's basketball team ventured out of conference play Tuesday night to face Widener University and lost 81-57.

Gallaudet (4-13) played a strong first half and held the lead late as the teams exchanged the lead and ties several time down the stretch. Widener's Jair Williams hit a jumper at the buzzer to give the Pride a 38-37 lead at halftime.

Sophomore guard Noah Valencia (Riverside, Calif.) made the first basket of the second half before the Bison went cold as Widener went on a 15-0 run to take a 52-40 lead with just under 13 minutes left.

Valencia recorded another jumper at the 6:31 mark to cut the Pride lead to single digits, 63-54, but Widener closed out the game on an 18-3 run.

GU had three players in double figures led by Valencia's 18-point game followed by freshman guard Preston Kelly (Fishers, Ind.) and senior forward Andy Cruz (Bronx, N.Y.) who scored 16 and 13 points, respectively. Cruz grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.

Widener (9-9) was led by guard Sam Smith who scored a game-high 33 points as he made 7 of 10 shots from three-point range.

BISON TRACKS

• The game featured eight ties and six lead changes
• GU was outrebounded by 13, 46-33
• Gallaudet scored 17 points off 14 Widener turnovers
• Widener outscored GU in the second half 43-20
• The last time these two teams met was on Nov. 26, 2005 in the Gallaudet Holiday Tournament championship game that Widener won 66-61

UP NEXT
Gallaudet (4-5 NEAC) returns home to host College of Saint Elizabeth (5-11, 2-5 NEAC) in a North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) game on Saturday, Jan. 27, at 1 p.m. It is the annual Alumni Madness day at the Field House so all Gallaudet alumni are encouraged to come out and support the Bison basketball programs.