OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Stevenson men's basketball junior forward Sean Farr scored a career-high 24 points and classmate Erik Fisher added 16 as the host Mustangs muscled past Widener, 73-65, Saturday afternoon in a Commonwealth Conference contest at Owings Mills Gymnasium.

Farr dumped in 12 points in each half while pulling in 11 rebounds to help Stevenson improve to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in Commonwealth action, and become the lone unbeaten squad in the conference.  Widener received 20 points from David Nicholson, but dropped its first game in conference play to fall to 8-2 overall and 2-1 in the league. 

After a sluggish opening segment, both teams shot just over 40% for the game with the Mustangs just edging the visitors on the board with a 41-40 advantage.

Despite up-and-down action to start the contest, the teams combined for just six points in the opening five minutes as both defenses stifled the opposing offenses. The visiting Pride slowly heated up, though, and used an 8-4 run over the next 2:30 minutes to open up a 12-6 lead and force a Stevenson timeout. Widener extended the lead to double digits at 17-7 on a free throw by Jermaine Kamara, but the Mustangs answered with a lay-in by Farr.

The basket sparked Stevenson as the hosts then streaked to a 9-4 run to cut the lead to five, 21-16, on a tough leaner by Josh Faulcon. Widener stopped the run short, though, as Nicholson drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key and stem the tide.

Widener was able to build the lead by controlling the boards, taking advantage of ten first-half offensive rebounds for eight second-chance points.

In the closing stages of the opening stanza, the Mustangs made another charge and trimmed the lead to just one, 27-26, on a three-point play by Farr.  Following a basket at the other end by Laron Byrd, Mustang sophomore Ryan Hill pulled SU within one again. Then after a defensive stop, sophomore Darius Walker found Farr with an outlet pass and the transfer slammed home before the buzzer to give Stevenson its first lead of the game, 30-29. Walker also contributed in the scoring column for the Mustangs, adding 12 points, with six coming from the charity stripe.

The Pride outrebounded the Mustangs in the first half, but Stevenson finished the period edging out Widener in terms of shooting, making 40% (12-for-30) of its shots compared to 39% (12-for-31) for the visitors.

Out of the break both teams started quickly and knocked down shots with Fisher leveling the affair at 37-37 with two free throws at the 17:44 mark. The Mustangs then raced out to a four-point lead as Farr converted lay-ups on back-to-back trips down the court.

The Pride kept pushing back though, and kept the Mustangs from running away as Farr dominated down low, even rising above the crowd to slam home a put-back dunk to re-instate the four-point cushion, 47-43 for the home team. Widener clawed back to within one at 50-49 with 8:24 remaining, but Stevenson answered with a 7-0 spurt for a game-high eight-point lead, capped by a Fisher lay-in.

Widener did not go quietly, however, and used a 10-4 run to pull within one once again with just over three minutes remaining. The Mustangs were able to hold the Pride at bay and maintain the lead through a lay-up by junior Chris Day and more Fisher free throws. Stevenson then salted the game away at the line where the Mustangs shot 19-for-23 in the second half and finished 25-for-35 for the game.

Stevenson now closes out the calendar year with back-to-back road games, beginning with a non-conference contest at Macalester on Thursday, Dec. 18.