Freshman point guard Rasheed Santiago (Allentown, PA/The George School) hit a pair of free throws to break a 47-all tie and Gaye scored seven of the next 11 to give the Griffins (22-2, 13-2) a commanding 60-47 lead with 9:06 to play. Alvernia (19-5, 14-2) cut the lead down to four with the ball at the 2:10 mark, but could get no closer as the Griffins hit 8-of-10 from the line over the final two minutes for the 10-point win.
A win for the Griffins versus Marywood on Saturday would give GMC home court advantage throughout the PAC playoffs in a tiebreaker over Alvernia. The playoffs begin Tuesday with both Alvernia and GMC receiving first-round byes and a home, semi-final game on Thursday.
A Ray Strickland (Chester, PA/Chester) bucket and the first of four first-half 3s for Mike Brock (Royersford, PA/Spring Ford) gave Alvernia an early 5-0 lead. Brock made it 8-2 Crusaders moments later, but the hosts responded with six straight forging the first of five first-half ties. Senior Cornell Merricks (Philadelphia, PA/Norristown) hit three free throws to break a 10-all tie and nailed a 3 at 12:13 that put the Crusaders back up five, 19-14, but Gwynedd-Mercy came back with six straight to take a 20-19 lead. Brock then sandwiched a pair of 3s around a Jolon Davis (Bristol, PA/Harry Truman) bucket and Alvernia led by three. GMC quickly tied the score with three free throws before a 10-2 run for the Crusaders put them back up eight, 35-27, with 2:47 left in the first half. Davis and Chris DelBrocco (Philadelphia, PA/St. John Neumann) hit 3s on consecutive possessions for the Griffins and following the third straight, from Joe Kilpatrick (Harleysville, PA/Souderton), the Griffins were back on top, 36-35. Alvernia was able to close with four of the last six points to take a slim, 39-38 lead into the break.
Gaye dropped in two to open the second and the lead changed hands five times over the first four minutes with Gwynedd-Mercy holding a 46-45 lead following a Strickland free throw with 15:52 to play. Brock hit a bucket to answer a Gaye free throw that set up the Griffin’s 13-0 run. Following the run, Alvernia quickly cut the13-point gap down to seven on six straight free throws from Strickland and Merricks, but Gwynedd-Mercy was able to push it back to 12 points following a pair of Corey Cann (Abington, PA/Abington) free throws at 4:41. Alvernia made its final push led by seven points from Strickland on a 10-2 run that made it 70-66, GMC, with 2:10 to play, but Brock had a 3-pointer partially deflected on the next possession before the Griffins’ parade to the foul line.
Strickland led all scorers with 24 points fueled by a 12-for-13 effort from the free throw line. Brock scored 19 points for the Crusaders and Merricks also reached double-figures with 13. Gaye led the Griffins’ efforts with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Davis added 17 points on a 7-for-12 effort and Cann added 15 for the Griffins.
Gwynedd-Mercy 78, Alvernia 68
ALVERNIA COLLEGE (19-5, 14-2 PAC) Ray Strickland 5-19 12-13 24; Mike Brock 7-14 1-1 19; Cornell Merricks 3-8 6-7 13; Akeem Washington 2-4 2-3 6; Zach Straining 1-8 2-4 4; Steve Royles 1-2 0-0 2; Alex West 0-2 0-0 0; Lamar Brickus 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 19-61 23-28 68. GWYNEDD-MERCY COLLEGE (22-2, 13-2 PAC) Badou Gaye 8-16 4-6 20; Jolon Davis 7-12 2-2 17; Corey Cann 4-11 7-8 15; Rashid Santiago 1-4 5-6 7; Chris DelBrocco 3-7 0-0 7; Courtney Griffin 2-4 1-2 5; Joe Kilpatrick 1-1 1-2 3; Tom Keenan 1-3 0-0 3; Jeff Thomas 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 27-59 21-28 78. Alvernia College.............. 39 29 - 68 Gwynedd-Mercy College......... 38 40 - 78 3-point goals-Alvernia College 7-26 (Mike Brock 4-9; Ray Strickland 2-9; Cornell Merricks 1-5; Steve Royles 0-1; Alex West 0-1; Lamar Brickus 0-1), Gwynedd-Mercy College 3-9 (Tom Keenan 1-2; Jolon Davis 1-2; Chris DelBrocco 1-3; Rashid Santiago 0-1; Corey Cann 0-1). Fouled out—Alvernia College-None, Gwynedd-Mercy College-Jolon Davis. Rebounds-Alvernia College 36 (Ray Strickland 6; Akeem Washington 6), Gwynedd-Mercy College 45 (Badou Gaye 13). Assists-Alvernia College 7 (Akeem Washington 2), Gwynedd-Mercy College 15 (Jolon Davis 7). Total fouls-Alvernia College 18, Gwynedd-Mercy College 22. A-550