Box Score

READING, Pa. - Albright continued their hot streak Saturday afternoon facing off conference newcomer and local rival Alvernia University.  The visiting Lions made another solid statement as they defeated the host Crusaders by the final score of 83-78. 

The Lions (5-0, 2-0 Commonwealth) knocked down 12-of-23 attempts from beyond the arc with most of them coming in timely fashion for an 83-78 win in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action, while the Crusaders (7-1, 1-1 Commonwealth) converted just 3-of-13 from long range.

Albright junior Matt Ashcroft was hot from the jump entering a zone personally that kept the Crusaders from playing one as a team. Ashcroft, who finished with four 3s and a career high 27 points, scored the first eight points for the Lions who faced a 13-8 deficit early, and capped it with eight of the Lions' last 13.
The Crusaders struggled to find the right match up for the 6-1 junior transfer who hit 8-of-10 from the floor including 4-of-6 from the arc and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. 

The man-for-man lost Ashcroft and Zac Schaeffer a number of times in the first five minutes of the second half as the two combined to knock down four 3s and the Crusaders watched an 11-point lead evaporate in just over three minutes.

Ashcroft hit the first 3 to knock the Alvernia lead down to eight two minutes into the second half and darted through the defense on an out-of-bounds play three minutes later to knock down his fourth and final and knot the score at 49-all with exactly 15:00 to play.

Up until Saturday, and even with five minutes to play against Albright, that's exactly what the Crusaders had done.

Sophomore guard Tad Gillis scored on an acrobatic and-one in the lane with six minutes to go and Nick Rivera, who finished with 23 points and 11 boards, scored back-to-back, the second on a nifty putback to give Alvernia a 70-67 lead.

The Crusaders were just about to lock down a successful defense stop the next time down the court, but another timely 3, this one from Adam Van Zelst unleashed the Lions.

Alvernia senior Charlie Hughes scored in the paint to give the lead back to the hosts, but Ashcroft blew past the defense on the baseline, a cardinal sin in the man-to-man, to tie the score again, and Shaeffer hit a 3 in transition that put the Lions back on top with under three to play.

After a driving layup from Gillis pulled Alvernia within a point it was once again Ashcroft going baseline for the layin and a 3-point lead.

The Crusaders had a look to tie it in the final seconds, but fittingly Ashcroft ran down the miss in the corner and hit a pair of free throws for the 5-point win.

All five Alvernia starters reached double figures with Gillis scoring 16 and Seth Cornell , Brian Nerney , and Matt Schatzmann all scoring 12 points each. Shaeffer added 15 to Ashcroft's career night and
Andrew Pomager scored 11 points in 15 minutes off the bench. 

Men's Basketball returns to action on Tuesday whey they travel to Penn State Berks for a 8 p.m. non-conference game