BOX SCORE

Chester, Pa. (Jan. 20, 2010) - Alvernia University (12-4, 4-2) sliced through the Widener University (9-8, 2-4) pressure handing out 25 assists on 30 buckets in a 69-53 victory Wednesday evening in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action at Widener.

The win moves the Crusaders into sole possession of third place a game behind both Lycoming and Albright.  Alvernia will host Lycoming, winners of seven straight, on Saturday in the last game of the first half of the conference schedule.

The Crusaders were led by senior center Nick Rivera (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) who scored 24 points with 15 rebounds.  He also added three assists, four blocks, and a pair of steals.

Head coach Mike Miller's one-word assessment of how good Rivera was Wednesday at Widener.

"Very," he said.  "He made our zone very good tonight and our zone gave them trouble."

Widener misfired on 44 shots in 65 attempts (32 percent) including 5-of-19 from behind the 3-point arc while the Crusaders were getting layups en route to a 54 percent shooting night (30-of-56).

Sophomore points guard Tad Gillis (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) made the offense click.

"Whatever they gave us [Gillis] made the right play," said Miller of his floor leader.  "Only three turnovers and he's getting doubled every play."

Gillis handed out a team-best eight assists.  Give eight more to sophomore Brian Nerney (Middletown, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) to go with eight points and eight boards.  Junior Seth Cornell (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) added 15 points, and Stefan Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./G.A.M.P.) scored 11.

Senior guard Charlie Hughes (Kenhorst, Pa./Governor Mifflin) returned from an injury and scored six points in 14 minutes seeing his first action in over a month.

"Charlie gave us very good minutes," said Miller with a sense of pride.  "I was hoping he could just get us rest for some people, but he came in and was a big contributor."

Hughes scored four points and added an assist as the Crusaders turned a 14-point lead midway through the second half into a 22-point lead with under nine minutes to play, and the lead was better than 16 until the final minutes.

"It's very big to win this one on the road," finished Miller.  "This was a steal.  Especially the first time we played them.  This is a big win for our confidence after a loss.  We just have to keep it going."

That opportunity presents itself in three days when the Crusaders host Lycoming on Saturday.

Alvernia 69, Widener 53