BOX SCORE

York, Pa. (Jan. 3, 2009) - Alvernia University (4-6) held its opponent to just 16 first-half points, but score 18 itself and shot 38 percent from the floor in a 55-52 loss to Penn State-Behrend (6-3) Saturday evening in day one action at the York College Men's Basketball Tournament.  Alvernia will face host York in the consolation game Sunday afternoon at 4:00.

Senior Jeff Amponsah (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Carson Long Military Acad.) led the Crusaders for the fourth straight game with 13 points.  It was the lowest team-high of the season for the Crusaders and the 52 points was the fewest score this season, one less than a 65-53 loss at Manhattanville.

The Crusaders were hurt by a 7-for-18 effort from the free throw line and 3-of-16 from behind the 3-point arc.

Alvernia led by as many as seven points in the first half, but settled for the two-point lead at the break.  Behrend used a 12-2 run midway through the second half to turn a one-point deficit into a nine-point lead, 45-36 with 2:32 to play.  Behrend led by eight with 15 seconds to go, but Alvernia got a layup from Eric Barefield (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) and a 3 from Amponsah at the buzzer for the final margin.

After Sunday's consolation game Alvernia will host Misericordia University for a conference doubleheader on Wednesday.

PSU-Behrend 55, Alvernia 52