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Fender key as Widener topples Alvernia

01/12/2017, 12:45am EST
By Matt Chandik

John Fender (above) went from playing zero minutes as a freshman to starting as a senior. (Photo: Tom Weishaar/One More Shot Photography)

Matt Chandik (@MChandik26)
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CHESTER — The list of in-game highlights from John Fender’s freshman year at Widener lasts all of zero seconds.

“I walked on my freshman year and did not play a single minute,” Fender said after Wednesday night’s 73-64 win over Alvernia. “…From high school, I thought I was better than I was, I guess.”

To be fair to Fender, he was a pretty good player at Strath Haven. Fender earned second-team All-Central League honors and helped the Panthers make the District One playoffs as a senior, but it’s a whole different animal when you get to the collegiate level. When you’re in high school, you can sometimes get away with a less-than-stellar effort on the defensive end if you’re the go-to scorer.

In college, though, it was the biggest thing keeping Fender out of the lineup.

“Defense, defense, defense: that’s how you get on the floor around here,” Fender said. “Once I built up my athleticism and my speed, it was all about being smart in team defense, being in help, being in the right spot, knowing scouting reports.”

Defense kept him off the floor at first, but it was Fender’s offensive game that was the highlight of the Pride’s win over the Crusaders (9-6, 3-3 MACC). He poured in a career-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, including a 2-for-4 night from beyond the arc for Widener (7-7, 2-4). He also grabbed four rebounds and played solid defense all over the court. It’s nights like these that have turned him from a walk-on to a Widener captain as a senior.

“(Widener coach Chris Carideo) has showed more confidence in me through the years. I think it’s because I’m the first in the gym, last to leave,” Fender said. “Now, he wants me to show the younger guys if a walk-on can do it, you just need to work hard every day, That (captain) part, I kind of expected. Just the way I carry myself, I think a lot of the guys look at me as a leader through the years, even last year. If players have a problem, they’ll come to me. I think everybody feels that I’m easy to talk to on and off the court.”

It’s another captain that brings the defense all over the court for the Pride, though.

It’s hard to pin down an exact position for Sardayah Sambo. The Widener junior stands about 6-4 and 190 pounds with long arms and good quickness, a combination that makes him a matchup nightmare for anyone on the court. On one possession, he can lock up a smaller guard, and on the next, you might find him in the paint putting the clamps on a big.

Even though Alvernia shot 50 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, the Pride never wilted, knowing full well that it’s a difficult pace to maintain for a whole game. Sambo was the driving force behind the Pride’s second-half defensive effort, one where the Crusaders were limited to 30 percent shooting from the field, including a 2-for-10 mark from deep.

Marquis Marshall, the son of former pro Donyell Marshall, led Alvernia with 22 points and seven rebounds, and Harriton alum Alex Shippen chipped in 12 points, four assists and three rebounds.

“I take pride in trying to be versatile,” said Sambo, who finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and a block. “It’s just playing with heart. That’s something you can’t measure. You just do it. It’s just a blessing from God to be able to do so much.”

There’s no doubt that Widener feels the same way.


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