BOX SCORE

Senior guard David Washington (Durham, N.C./Northern Durham) and junior Charlie Hughes (Kenhorst, Pa./Governor Mifflin) hit seven of the team's eight 3s and it was just enough to overcome poor free throw shooting and a game Rowan University (2-4) team Monday night in a 66-64 win for Alvernia University in non-conference men's basketball action at the Physical Education Center. 

The Profs hit a ¾ -court 3 at the first half buzzer and missed a fall-away toss at the final horn that would have forced overtime. Alvernia converted just 8-of-22 free throws and couldn't close Rowan out missing four free throws in the final 20 seconds to give the Profs a shot with under two seconds left. 

Eric Barefield (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) hit 1-of-2 free throws for a two-point lead with 1.8 seconds on the clock. Alvernia senior Tyrone Bradley (Chester, Pa./Chester) swatted down the first inbound pass, and all the Profs could manage on the second was a one-handed toss from the right corner that wasn't close. 

The second half featured eight ties before Alvernia completed an 8-0 run to take a 55-49 lead with 5:17 to play. Rowan cut that in half on a Dan Reddan (Brick, N.J./Brick Twp.) triple, one of six on the night for the Profs. 

Reddan's next 3 two minutes later put the Profs ahead 57-55, but Washington, who entered shooting less than 20 percent from the arc answered with one of his four 3s to give the lead back to Alvernia. Tim Walters (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) followed with a jumper to push the lead to three with two minutes to go. 

Barefield knocked down a pair of free throws with 34 ticks left; the only back-to-back makes for Alvernia on the night from the stripe, and 13 seconds later Alvernia had a six-point lead after Washington went 1-for-2. 

Rowan got a jumper from Kevin Darby (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) to trim the gap to four, and after a pair of Bradley clanks Reddan dribbled the rebound the length of the floor and canned his fourth 3 of the night for a 65-64 spread with three seconds to go. 

Barefield was fouled on the inbound and hit 1-of-2 before Rowan's final attempt. 

Washington led Alvernia with 17 points and Rivera and Hughes added 11 points each. Darby finished with a team-best 14 points and Reddan scored a dozen on 4-of-5 shooting from the arc. 

In the early going, after a Nick Rivera (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) layup tied the score at 2-2, Washington hit a 3 and Alvernia held the lead the rest of the way in the first half building the gap to as many as 10 points, 23-13 when Hughes hit his second of three first-half 3s. 

Rowan answered that with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit back to one possession, 23-21 with five minutes to go before the break. Billy Care (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional) started it with a jumper and Tim Cook (Willingboro, N.J./Glassboro) led the Profs with four points on the four minute run. 

Rivera stopped the streak with a layup on the back side of an Alvernia timeout and Barefield pushed the gap to six with a driving layup at the 3:40 mark. 

Sophomore guard Sean Hughes (Pt. Pleasant, N.J./Pt. Pleasant Boro) accounted for the next four for Rowan to pull within two with 34 ticks left and the teams traded prayers for the 30-28 halftime score. Hughes banked in a 3 with three seconds to go and Allen Pritchett (Camden, N.J./Woodbury) hit nothing but net on a final heave from ¾-court. 

Both teams got a dozen points in the paint in the opening frame, but Alvernia turned seven offensive boards into 11 second-chance points to hold the slim margin at the half. Charlie Hughes and Rivera led Alvernia with nine and eight points respectively and combined to shoot 7-of-8 from the floor in the half while the rest of the Crusaders tossed it in at a 5-for-18 clip. Darby had a team-best six at the break for the Profs. 

Alvernia will open the conference schedule on Wednesday hosting Delaware Valley for a women's and men's doubleheader starting at 6:00 p.m. 

Alvernia 66, Rowan 64