BOX SCORE

Reading, PA (Feb. 23, 2006) – Senior forward Zach Straining (Paxtang, PA/Central Dauphin East) recorded game highs with 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead top-seeded Alvernia College to a 66-63 win over #2 Wesley College Thursday evening in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Final at the Physical Education Center.  Straining was named the PAC Championship Most Valuable Player.

            Alvernia (23-4) built a 33-16 lead at the break in party by holding Wesley College freshman Rashawn Johnson (Selbyville, DE/Sussex Tech), the leading scorer in the conference, to zero first half points on 0-for-4 shooting.  Wesley needed just over 12 minutes in the second half to erase the Alvernia lead, and the Crusaders needed a 13-4 run over the final 2:58 to claim their third PAC Title.

            Johnson nailed his second 3 in as many possessions to double the Wolverines’ lead to six with just under four minutes remaining.  Straining scored on a layup with 2:58 to play and junior Garrett Etzel (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin) scored a fast break layup to cut the gap to two points 20 seconds later.  Wesley freshman Mike Wright (Dover, DE/Dover) , who totaled half of his team-high 16 points during the second half comeback, scored twice from the free throw line for a 61-57 Wesley lead with 2:24 to play.

            Senior guard Mike Brock (Royersford, PA/Spring Ford) missed from the arc on the Crusaders’ next possession, but Straining corralled the rebound and put it back to cut the lead in half.  Etzel stripped the ball from Johnson and converted on a breakaway to knot the score at 61-all with 1:48 to go.

            Straining, who finished 9-of-16 from the stripe hit one from the line for the slimmest of leads and Johnson’s teardrop jumper from the right side fell to Etzel who also hit 1-of-2 free throws to push the gap to two, 63-61 with 32 ticks left.  Wesley threw the ball away with 12 seconds left and fouled Etzel who was good just once again from the line.

            Wright pushed the pace on the rebound and flung in a shot from near the top of the arc that was ruled a two, leaving Alvernia with a narrow one point lead with five seconds to play.  Brock was fouled on the inbounds and his first free throw was all net.  The second teetered on the rim before falling through and the Wolverines could not get off a shot as the horn sounded with the ball in Straining’s hands at mid-court.

            Alvernia will receive the PAC’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championships.  The pairings and locations of first round games for the 59-team tournament will be released on Monday morning.  Alvernia, ranked third in the latest NCAA regional ranking, improved to 18-11 all time in PAC tournament games and claimed its third title in nine finals appearances.  Wesley was making its first appearance in the title game.

            Alvernia started Thursday night’s game with back-to-back layups from senior Chris Talley (Royersford, PA/Spring Ford).  The 6-2 guard also closed the first half scoring with a layup that made him the 19th men’s player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.

            Wesley answered Talley’s early scoring with seven straight for a three point lead, but Alvernia countered with 13 of the next 15 for an eight point lead, 17-9, with 10:46 left in the half.  Straining scored the first six straight points for the hosts to start the run and Etzel nailed his only 3 of the night midway through.

            Wesley scored to pull within six points, but Alvernia pushed the gap to 10 points twice and all the way up to its 17-point halftime lead with the final eight points of the half.  Talley scored four points on back-to-back layups and following a Straining field goal, picked up a loose ball near mid court and swooped it for the left-handed finish prompting both a Wesley timeout and a raucous celebration.

            Junior guard Ryan Finger (Lancaster, PA/Lampeter Strasburg) blanketed Johnson for 18 minutes during the first half and held the Wolverines’ best scoring threat to just four shots over the opening 20 minutes.  The rest of the Alvernia defense was almost as effective holding Wesley to 29 percent from the floor and forcing nine turnovers while the offense ran at a somewhat efficient 47 percent clip.  The hosts could have expanded the halftime lead, but a 2-for-11 effort from behind the arc in the first half kept the score within a reasonable comeback range.

            Wesley opened the second half with a free throw, but three straight points from Talley gave Alvernia its largest lead of the night, a 19 point gap with 18:24 on the clock.  Freshman Alphonzo Wright (Dover, DE/Polytech) scored on a putback that sparked a string of seven straight for Wesley as the guests started to mount the comeback.  Johnson started to get hot during the streak scoring his first points of the night to cut the Crusaders’ lead to 12 points, 36-24 with 16:41 to play.

            The lead was 13 after a Straining free throw at 15:31 and another seven point Wesley streak cut it to six.  Mike Wright scored on back-to-back floaters in the lane to cut it to four, but the Crusaders countered that with a pair of layups from Straining to reset the eight point gap.

            Johnson’s first of three 3s pulled Wesley to within three points, 48-45 with 8:23 left and when senior Nick Minor (Gambrills, MD/Anne Arundel) threw down a dunk on the break, Wesley had its first lead since it was 9-8 early in the first.

            Johnson followed a Straining free throw with a jumper and reserve Dana Clark (Upper Marlboro, MD/Frederick Douglass) scored on a tip-in for a four-point Wesley lead.  Finger hit his only two free throws of the night on Alvernia’s next possession to cut the lead in half, but Johnson sandwiched a Talley layup with a pair of 3s for a six point edge, the second of which landed at 3:40 to give Wesley it’s 59-53 lead.

            The Wolverines (17-10) will await a potential bid from the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) into its South Region Tournament.  Despite playing just twice in the past 10 days the Crusaders will take a much-needed breather and resume preparations for the NCAA Tournament this weekend.