BOX SCORE
Gwynedd Valley, PA (Jan. 11, 2006) – Senior guard Mike Brock (Royersford, PA/Spring Ford) blocked a shot at the end of the second overtime and dropped in two of his game-high 21 points at the end of the third overtime to lead Alvernia College to an 81-80 win over Gwynedd-Mercy Wednesday evening in Pennsylvania Athletic Conference men’s basketball action.
Brock denied GMC junior Chris DelBrocco (Philadelphia, PA/St. John Neumann) with two seconds left in the second extra frame and hit a floater with three seconds left in the third extra frame. Griffin junior Rashid Santiago (Allentown, PA/The George School) missed a heave from just inside mid court at the final horn.
Gwynedd-Mercy opened the game with an 8-1 spurt sparked by a jumper from Santiago and 3s from DelBrocco and Tom Keenan (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge). The lead continued to swell with the Griffins (4-8, 2-3 PAC) tacking on an 8-4 streak to get out to a 16-5 lead. Keenan added two more points from the free throw stripe and DelBrocco nailed his second, and final, 3 of the night as the Griffins held an 11-point lead with 5:35 gone off the first half clock.
Alvernia senior Zach Straining (Paxtang, PA/Central Dauphin East), who tallied 19 points and 15 rebounds, hit his only 3 of the night to spark a 15-3 run for the Crusaders that gave the visitors a 20-19 edge with 5:41 left in the first half. Straining score five points during the run and Brock nailed two of his five 3s late in the streak.
GMC’s Kevin Lauer (Philadelphia, PA/St. John Neumann) hit a free throw to knot the score at 20-20, the first of four first half ties. Brock’s free throw 53 seconds short of halftime tied the score at 28-all where it remained at the break.
The second half featured four early ties before Alvernia finished off a 9-0 run that turned a 35-34 deficit into a 43-35 lead with 13:16 left in regulation. Alvernia established its first double-digit lead, 52-42, when junior Garrett Etzel (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin) nailed a 3 at the 10:20 mark, and Etzel pushed it to 12, 59-47 on a layup with 5:10 left.
The Crusaders, who shot just 11-of-23 from the free throw line, managed one conversion from the stripe in four attempts over the final five minutes as GMC closed with a 13-1 run to force overtime. Francis Bowe (Phoenixville, PA/St. Pius X) hit a 3 for the Griffins with four seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 60-60 and Alvernia’s Chris Talley (Royersford, PA/Spring Ford) missed a shot from long range at the buzzer.
Straining opened the overtime period converting a pair from the stripe and senior guard Lamar Brickus (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) made the spread three with a free throw. GMC chipped back with a pair of free throws and Lauer dropped in the only field goal of the first overtime period to give the hosts a 64-63 lead with 19 ticks to play. Etzel hit 1-of-2 from the stripe with six seconds left to force the second overtime.
Alvernia scored all four of its points on 4-of-6 shooting from the line in the first overtime. Santiago was whistled for all three fouls.
Brock opened the second overtime with a 3 and Alvernia pushed its lead to five, 73-68 after Straining tallied four straight points. Santiago hit two free throws with 1:47 left and DelBrocco hit three from the line with 1:00 left to tie the score at 73-all. Straining missed a jumper with 33 ticks left and Brock denied DelBrocco with two seconds left to force the third overtime.
As he had five minutes earlier, Brock nailed a 3 to put Alvernia up 76-73 in the third overtime. Talley scored on a layup with 3:14 to put Alvernia up 79-75, and GMC answered with five straight capped by a pair of free throws from Santiago with 14 seconds left to take an 80-79 lead before Brock’s game-winner fell through with three seconds left in the third overtime.
Brickus and Talley both finished with 10 points apiece for Alvernia while Etzel threw in 15. Lauer led the Griffins with 19, DelBrocco scored 17, and Kennan added 10. The Griffins hit 27-of-37 from the free throw line while Alvernia enjoyed a 53-49 advantage on the boards.
Alvernia snapped a streak of five straight losses to Gwynedd-Mercy in a rematch of the last two PAC Championships.
Alvernia 81, Gwynedd-Mercy 80 (3OT)
