BOX SCORE

Junior forward Nick Rivera (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) totaled 16 points and eight rebounds and sophomore point guard Eric Barefield (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) scored a career high 16 points to go with five rebounds and five assists to lead Alvernia University (1-2) to a 76-65 win over Penn State-Berks (0-3) Friday evening in game two of the 11th Annual Tom Masano/Sheraton Reading Tip-Off Tournament at the Physical Education Center. 

The Crusaders put a total of five players in double figures with Charlie Hughes (Kenhorst, Pa./Governor Mifflin) and Jeff Amponsah (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Carson Long Military Academy) going for 13 each and Tim Walters (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) added 10. Penn State-Berks got a team-best 18 points from Ryan Rooney. 

Alvernia will face Gwynedd-Mercy in the championship game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. following the 1:00 tip-off between Berks and The College of New Jersey. This will be the eighth time Alvernia is in the final of its own tip-off tournament. The Crusaders are 5-2 in previous finals. It will also be the third time Alvernia faces Gwynedd-Mercy in the last six games. 

Alvernia raced out to an 11-0 holding the Lions off the board for the first seven and a half minutes before a pair of free throws put the guests on the board. PSU did not connect on its first field goal until the 7:51 mark with Rooney scored in the paint to make the score 16-4. 

In the meantime Alvernia got production six different players led by Barefield and Amponsah who scored four each. 

Alvernia junior Hughes was the seventh Crusader on the board when he stroked a 3 with 7:00 left in the first half to put the Crusaders up 21-4. Two minutes later it was Walters with a jumper that gave the hosts their largest lead of the half, an 18-point bulge, 25-7 with 5:13 on the clock. 

The Lions cut the lead down to 14 points with four straight and eventually down to 11 points closing the first half with an 11-4 run. Five different players contributed for PSU during the final five minutes. 

Alvernia held a 20-4 advantage on points in the paint over the opening 20 minutes and scored 11 points off 12 Lion turnovers. 

The Crusaders built the second half lead back to a dozen with a free throw and moved it to 14 on a Walters 3 with 16:27 to play. Berks answered with a 3 and eventually cut the lead to eight points, 41-33 on a Rooney 3 with just under 15:00 to play. 

Back-to-back jumpers from Barefield and Amponsah reset the 12-point lead and Hughes made it 13 connecting on a 3. Alvernia scored on a pair of free throws over the next minute-plus to go up 15, but the Lions put on one final charge. 

It started with back-to-back 3s before Rooney's layup at 11:02 pulled the guests within seven, 50-43. Berks junior Adam Fusco hit a 3 a minute later that cut the gap to six, and Rooney scored on another layup at 8:44 to cut the gap to four, 56-52. 

Rivera answered with a layup of his own and Hughes scored five straight points for an 11-point lead. Mark Fowler hit a 3 for Berks to cut it back to eight, but four straight for the Crusaders gave them the room they needed. 

Alvernia 76, PSU-Berks 65