BOX SCORE

Reading, Pa. (Jan. 13, 2010) – Alvernia University (11-3, 3-1) shot 66 percent from the 3-point arc in a 66-39 win over Arcadia University (5-8, 0-4) Wednesday evening in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action at the Physical Education Center.

The Crusaders hit 5-of-6 from behind the arc during a 17-2 first-half run that pushed a one-point lead to 16 and cruised to their third conference win of the season and the 100th victory for sixth year head coach Mike Miller.

“Our overall man-for-man defense was very good tonight,” said Miller after the win. “We took them down to the shot clock a lot to where they just had to throw up a shot. We took them out of their offense.”

The Crusader defense held its fourth opponent under 50 points and for the first time held a team under 40. Arcadia shot 31 percent from the floor hitting just 17-of-55 shots while the Crusaders had four players shoot better than 50 percent led by Stefan Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./G.A.M.P) who hit 7-of-10 shots including 5-for-8 from the arc.

“This was Stefan's breakout game,” said Miller while pouring over the box score. “He's getting better and better at practice. We started to get him in at the Macon Tournament and that's because he's been getting better on defense.”

Thompson scored six points on two 3s in the first half and scored 13 of his career-high 19 in the second half. Junior Seth Cornell (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) matched Thompson with 19, Tad Gillis (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) scored 11 points and added nine assists, and Nick Rivera (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) added 10 points.

“The way teams have been playing Nick, the 3-ball has been open,” said Miller. “We knew we had to get another shooter out there and Stefan has stepped in for that.”

The Crusaders effectively moved the ball around and through the Arcadia defense handing out 21 assists on 25 buckets.

“I don't know if we can play much better,” admitted Miller after matching the 21 assists with a season-best eight turnovers.

Miller becomes the third head coach at Alvernia to reach 100 career wins joining Jack McCloskey (227-111) and Rod Hand (124-142) and credits the entire program on getting to the milestone.

“It's a credit to the staff that we've had here through the six years,” said Miller. “Especially at the college level with recruiting and scouting, you gotta have a good staff and players. It's a credit to them.”

Alvernia looks for no. 101 when the Crusaders travel to Messiah College on Saturday.

Alvernia 66, Arcadia 39