St. Davids, PA (Feb. 11, 2006) – Senior forward Zach Straining (Paxtang, PA/Central Dauphin East), who scored a career high 28 points, and junior Garrett Etzel (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin) both extended a late lead with free throws as Alvernia College used a second half comeback to defeat Eastern University, 75-72 Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania Athletic Conference men’s basketball action at Eastern.

            Straining’s 3-point play broke a 70-all tie with 15 seconds to play.  Eastern answered with a Ben Easley (Philadelphia, PA/Pennwood) bucket to trim the lead to one and Etzel pushed it back to three with a pair of free throws at the five second mark.  Easley’s final attempt from well beyond the arc bounced away and the Crusaders (20-4, 16-1 PAC) locked up their eighth 20-win season.

            Eastern used a 15-2 run early in the fist half to open up a 10-point lead just over eight minutes into play.  Easely and Bobby Black (Philadelphia, PA/King) led the way with four points each for the Eagles (16-8, 11-6 PAC) during the run.  Straining stopped the streak with a 3-point play and Etzel followed with a bucket to pull Alvernia within five.  The Crusaders eventually tied the score at 21-all on Jeff Amponsah’s (Far Rockaway, NY/Carson Long Military Academy) only points of the game 6:04 before the break.

            The hosts put together a 16-4 run for a 12-point lead with 1:40 on the first half clock and maintained the lead at the break as the score read 39-27 after the first 20 minutes.  Lenny DiMaria (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) started the Eagles’ late run with back-to-back buckets and Black tallied six of his team-high 20 during the stretch.

            Alvernia slowly chipped away at the lead in the second half and tied the score at 51-all with 10:34 to play on an Etzel 3-point play.  Straining hit a pair of free throws five minutes later and Etzel nailed his only 3 of the game and the Crusaders had their largest lead of the day at 67-59 with 4:14 to go.

            Eastern answered with six straight to pull within two and tied the score at 70 on a Black 3 that preceded Straining’s 3-point play.

            Alvernia will return home to face Marywood University on Monday evening.  The Crusaders will be the top seeded team in the PAC Championships and will receive a first-round bye when the playoffs kick off on Feb. 18.  Alvernia will host the lowest remaining team on Tuesday, Feb. 21 in the semifinals.  The Finals are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 23.

Alvernia 75, Eastern 72