Junior guards Lamar Brickus and Mike Brock each hit a 3 for the Crusaders as part of an 11-3 run that put Alvernia up 56-53 with 7:46 left in the game. The Lions (1-2) were able to cut the gap down to one twice in the last seven minutes of play, but Brock nailed his fourth 3 of the night at 3:50 and the Crusaders led by two or more possessions the rest of the game.
Albright jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead sparked by 3s from Ben Gallagher and Matt Kieselowsky and held a 5-point edge at halftime, 32-27. The Crusaders took their first lead of the night at 12-11 on a Chris Talley layup and pushed it to as many as six, 17-11, with 10:07 left in the half. Albright hit four free throws and a Garret Etzel 3 tied the score at 17-all. From there the Lions closed the half with a 15-10 spurt for the lead at the break.
The Lions held onto that 5-point lead at 50-45 after two Trevor Deeter free throws and 52-47 after a Deeter layup before Alvernia’s 11-3 run that started with a Zach Straining layup.
Brickus tallied 14 points for Alvernia to match Deeter’s 14. Straining scored 13 and Brock had 12 points on four 3s. Talley also added 11 for the Crusaders off the bench. Alvernia will continue with the local non-conference schedule with a Saturday afternoon trip to Penn State-Berks.