BOX SCORE

Reading, Pa. (Nov. 18, 2006) – Senior guard Garrett Etzel (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin) scored 18 of his game-high 28 points in the first half as Alvernia College built a 34-27 lead at the break and held off #6 Baldwin-Wallace for a 71-62 win in the Championship Game of the ninth annual Tom Masano Auto Group/Sheraton Reading Tip-Off Tournament Saturday afternoon at the Physical Education Center.

            Baldwin-Wallace trimmed the Alvernia lead down to four points midway through the second half, and had possession twice with a chance to trim it to one, but Alvernia forced a turnover and rebounded a missed shot before an Etzel layup pushed the lead to six.  Freshman forward Matt King (Phoenixville, PA/St. Pius X), who tallied 24 and joined Etzel on the All-Tournament Team, knocked down a 3 to push the lead to seven and after another Etzel bucket, the Crusaders (2-0) led by no fewer than eight points the rest of the way.

            Alvernia senior Ryan Finger (Lancaster, PA/Lampeter Strasburg) tallied a game-high six assists and gathered eight rebounds to make the All-Tournament Team.  B-W placed sophomore Andrew Bene (Hinkley, OH/Medina Highland) on the All-Tournament Team after a 14 point, 11 rebound day.  Senior All-American Tori Davis (Elyria, OH/Open Door Christian) also reached double figures for the Yellow Jackets on Saturday with 14 points.

            Etzel opened the game with a layup right off the opening tip, but after Tom Jesko (Salem, OH/Senior) nailed his second of two first-half 3s, B-W held a six-point lead at 12-6.  Etzel’s 3-point play preceded a Davis layup and King knocked down a 3 to start an 11-0 stretch for the hosts that put them up 20-14 at the 12:04 mark.  Etzel tallied four points on the streak and the Crusaders held Baldwin-Wallace off the board for nearly four full minutes.

            A free throw from Dennis Santiago (Brooks Park, OH/Midpark) snapped the scoreless streak, but the Crusaders came back with seven straight including Etzel’s first 3 to push the lead to 12 points, 27-15, with 6:02 left in the first half.  Etzel hit a fading 3 as the shot clock wound down to give Alvernia a 10-point lead, 30-20, and calmly stroked another from the top of the key for a 33-22 lead with 2:52 on the clock.

            B-W trimmed the first-half deficit to nine points twice in the final two minutes, and hit 3-of-6 free throws in the final 1:04 to cut the gap to seven at the break, 34-27.

            Alvernia is headed to Maui on Sunday for a weeklong trip that will include a pair of games in the US Bank – Whitworth Maui Invitational against George Fox and California Lutheran.  Baldwin-Wallace, ranked sixth in the d3hoops.com preseason poll, will open the home schedule on Tuesday versus Oberlin.

Alvernia 71, Baldwin-Wallace 62
All-Tournament Team
Garrett Etzel (AC) – MVP
Matt King (AC)
Ryan Finger (AC)
Andrew Bene (B-W)
Sydney Francis (RCU)
Sherard Robbins (CC)