BOX SCORE

Glassboro, N.J. (Nov. 30, 2009) - Alvernia University senior Nick Rivera (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) scored better than a point a minute netting a career-high 27 points in 26 minutes to help the Crusaders (6-0) remain undefeated with a 69-65 win over Rowan University (3-2) Monday evening in non-conference men's basketball action at Rowan.

The 6-6 center reached 20 points for the third time in six games this season, but watched the last four minutes from the bench after picking up his fifth foul.  The Crusaders led 63-58 at that point, but saw the Profs score five straight to knot the game at 63-all turning a 40 minute tussle into a two and a half minute sprint.

Rivera's replacement, sophomore Ryan Ludwig (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy), one of just two subs for the Crusaders all night, broke the Alvernia scoreless streak hitting 1-of-2 free throws.

After a defensive stop that ended with a Ludwig rebound Alvernia sophomore Brian Nerney (Middletown, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) swooped down the lane and dropped in a layup for a 66-63 lead.

"Nerney just made a big play there," explained Alvernia head coach Mike Miller after surveying the bus to recall just which big play it was that put the guests up three.  "We cleared it out for Nerney at the top.  They had match-up problems with him, and he blew by his man and laid it in."

Nerney's rebound ended the next Rowan possession and he drew a foul hitting 1-of-2 from the line for a four-point lead, but the Profs ended their two-minute drought with an offensive putback the next time down to cut the gap to two with 20 ticks left.

Rowan took a timeout after the bucket to setup defensively, but the Crusaders zipped through the pressure ending with a wide open layup from freshman Matt Schatzmann (Paradise, Pa./Pequea Valley) to seal the win.

"I thought they'd foul right away," said Miller, which they may actually have been trying to do.  "We set up in our press break trying to get the ball to Charlie [Hughes].  He got it to [Tad] Gillis and he threw it over the top to Matt with no one on that half of the court."

Rowan had perhaps a chance for a quick bucket and a foul, but with three attempts in the final seconds the Profs couldn't drop one in.

"We got into a little foul trouble and had to gut it out," said Miller.  "The guards really gutted it out."

And Miller gave them every opportunity keeping both starting guards, junior Seth Cornell (Penn Manor, Pa./Millersville) and sophomore Tad Gillis (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) on the floor for the full 40 minutes.

"I kept looking out there to see if they were tired, but they never looked it," explained Miller.  "They were blowing by their man right up until the end."

The guards, in addition to Nerney, who played 37 of a possible 40 minutes, were match ups Alvernia was able to take advantage of.  Cornell finished with 19 points knocking down crucial 3s in the first half that helped the Crusaders erase an early deficit and Gillis handed out a season-high 10 assists.  Nerney filled the box with seven points, five rebounds, two assists, and three steals.

Alvernia found itself down seven points midway through the first half and trailed by five with just over four minutes on the clock before Cornell fueled a 13-2 run to close the half and put the Crusaders up six at the break, 35-29.  Cornell stroked a pair of 3s during the run which started with Charlie Hughes' (Kenhorst, Pa./Governor Mifflin) only 3 of the night.

"They tried to go zone to counter our quickness," said Miller, "but we were able to shoot them out of it.  Seth banging home 3s took them out of it then they struggled to stay in front of Gillis."

The second half started with a 3-point play from Rivera and when Cornell knocked down another 3 five minutes later the Crusaders had a double-digit lead at 45-35.  That grew to 11 after a Ludwig layup, but the Profs cut it to just one scoring 12 of 14 points over a quick four-minute run.  Reserve guard Allen Pritchett scored seven of his 10 during the run.

Rivera was able to keep the Crusaders ahead scoring inside and then knocking down a pair of free throws eventually scoring five straight for a 60-54 lead before he picked up his fourth foul.

Tyson Hartnett scored four straight to cut the gap to two for the Profs, but Rivera answered with another 3-point play to push the gap to five before fouling out.

"Nick's gonna have to learn to play down the stretch with four fouls," said Miller.  "He was 5-for-8 from the free throw line, but he did hit some big ones when we needed them."

Hartnett finished with a team-high 19 for the Profs and Kendall White added a dozen.

Alvernia is 6-0 for the first time since 1996 and will look to match that record-setting start with its seventh victory at Elizabethtown on Wednesday.  It will be a tough task for the Crusaders facing the preseason favorite on the road in the conference opener, but Miller was intentional in setting up Monday night's game in preparation.

"I couldn't have asked for anything more," admitted Miller after Monday's win.  "We got every possible situation.  We played against zone, man, pressure, we play against big, small, played with foul trouble, and had to close it out on the road."

The last piece maybe the most crucial heading into Wednesday's game with the Jays.  Alvernia hadn't been in a game decided by less than 14 points through the first five, and had just one road contest, but that was the shortest of all bus rides over to Penn State-Berks where it handled the Lions by 40 in the season opener.

Etown will offer live stats of Wednesday's doubleheader through its athletic website etownbluejays.com.

Alvernia 69, Rowan 65