BOX SCORE

St. David's, Pa. (Jan. 21, 2009) - The road woes continue for Alvernia University (8-8, 5-3) as it missed its third chance of the season to reach a modest three-game win streak with a 65-61 setback at Eastern University (10-4, 4-3) Wednesday evening in Freedom Conference men's basketball action.

The road mark falls to 2-6 for Alvernia which is more than comfortable in the friendly confines of the Physical Education Center where the Maroon & Gold is 6-1 overall with a 4-0 mark in conference, but hitting the road thus far this year has been a different story.

Three players were in double figures for Alvernia which led much of the second half before Eastern took over with an 8-0 run that helped snap a streak of 13 straight losses to the Crusaders. Eastern got a game-high 24 points from freshman Tyrik Tucker and 18 from classmate Martin Soaries.

Alvernia was statistically solid in most areas shooting 55 percent from the floor and holding a 32-21 advantage in rebounds. The Crusaders hit 60 percent of their 3s, but only attempted five, their lowest number of the season.

The trouble came in ball security, specifically in the second half when Alvernia committed 14 of its 20 turnovers. Previous to Wednesday the Crusaders had only two 20-plus turnover nights and were coming off a night with half as many in a win over preseason favorite Wilkes.

The first half at Eastern had all the makings of a classic with seven lead changes and Alvernia's early 13-8 lead the largest of the half. Both teams connected at better than 50 percent from the floor, with Tucker hitting for 15 points and Alvernia junior Nick Rivera (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) leading the way for the Crusaders with 10 of his team-high 16.

Alvernia established some control early in the second half taking a 44-37 lead when David Washington (Durham, N.C./Northern Durham) dropped a 3 with just under 17 to play. Washington finished with 10 for the Crusaders, his third straight game in double figures.

The lead was still seven after an Eric Barefield (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) jumper at the 12:20 mark, but Eastern put together its first run going for six straight capped by a Tucker layup to pull within one, 50-49 with under nine to play.

Alvernia bumped that lead back to five points with back-to-back layups from Washington and Rivera, but Soaries answered with consecutive 3s to give Eastern the 57-56 lead, its first since a 33-31 lead late in the first half.

A Derek Wright layup made it eight straight for the hosts, but Rivera's free throws at 3:14 that cut it back to a one-point game were the only points for the Crusaders in an eight-minute span that stretched to Jeff Amponsah's (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Carson Long Military Academy) 3 with six seconds to play.

Amponsah finished with 11 points as the third Crusader in double figures. Rivera added a team-high nine rebounds.

Alvernia returns home to start the second half of the league schedule hosting Manhattaville on Saturday in a women's and men's doubleheader.

Eastern 65, Alvernia 61