Senior center Badou Gaye opened the second half with a dunk and Jeff Thomas (Philadelphia, PA/St. John Neumann) dropped in a layup to put GMC up nine, 30-21, and the shots didn’t get too much harder for the Griffins as they torched the nets for a 71 percent second-half shooting effort. Alvernia (3-2, 0-1) stayed in the game hitting the offensive glass for 16 rebounds and forcing 27 turnovers, but a 30 percent effort from the floor doomed the hosts.
The Crusaders took an early 3-2 lead on freshman forward Damon Bogan’s first of five 3s, but following a Joe Kilpatrick bucket for the Griffins they wouldn’t lead again. Gwynedd-Mercy pushed its early lead to six, 9-3, and held as many as 10 in the first half following a 7-0 spurt with 1:27 left on the clock. Sophomore guard Chris DelBroco, who tallied a dozen for the Griffins, started the run with one of his four 3s. Bogan nailed a 3 for the Crusaders to end the streak and junior Lamar Brickus hit a layup to close the gap to five at the half, 26-21.
Gwynedd-Mercy built the lead back to 10 early in the second half and built it to as many as 12 points, a lead they held five times, the latest at 63-51 with 2:04 remaining. Bogan hit a pair of 3s late to pull Alvernia within seven, but the Crusaders could get no closer.
Bogan led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, and Chris Talley (Royersford, PA/Spring Ford) had 11 for the Crusaders. Gaye finished the night with 10 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
Alvernia will head to Salisbury for a weekend tournament with Montclair State and Rochester this Friday and Saturday.
Gwynedd-Mercy 14, Alvernia 17. A-725