BOX SCORE

Reading, Pa. (Jan. 23, 2010) - Alvernia University (12-5, 4-3) turned the ball over 20 times to just 16 assists Saturday afternoon in an 83-73 loss to Lycoming College (15-2, 6-1) in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action at the Physical Education Center.

Lycoming hit just 3-of-16 shots from the 3-point line in the first half and trailed by one point at the break, 30-29.  The Warriors turned their focus to the lane in the second half cutting down their 3-point attempts by 10--while still hitting three--and shot 60 percent from the floor exploding for 54 points after the break.

Center Mike Bradley led all scorers with 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting before fouling out late in the second half.

"We had a lot of breakdowns defensively," admitted Alvernia head coach Mike Miller.  "We had very poor interior defense."

Lycoming scored eight points in the paint during a 13-2 run that turned a two-point deficit into a nine-point lead with 9:29 to play.  The other five points were a Bradley baseline jumper and one of the three second-half 3s.

During the stretch Alvernia missed three shots from the floor and turned it over twice.

"I didn't think we'd turn it over 20 times against the Philadelphia 76ers," Miller said.

Three days earlier the Crusaders handed out 25 assists on 30 buckets as they carved through full-court pressure in a win at Widener University.

"It's a press that we prepared for, but they do it in waves," Miller admitted comparing the two different styles of pressure his team saw this week.  "This team makes the forwards do something with the ball.  Widener just made the guards do it.  In the first half our forwards did a bad job of handling it and in the second half our guards did."

Alvernia had three players with four or more assists in Saturday's loss, but also had three with four or more turnovers.  Sophomore Stefan Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./G.A.M.P.), who led the Crusaders with 20 points, also committed a team-high six miscues.

"We're not mentally tough yet," Miller said.  "We're very inconsistent with everything.  We have to clean that up."

Miller's Crusaders are halfway through the conference schedule in a three-way tie for third with Elizabethtown and Messiah.  All three teams are two games behind Lycoming and Albright who are tied for first, and two clear of Widener and Lebanon Valley.

Alvernia hosts Penn State-Schuylkill in a non-conference game Monday night and starts the second half of the conference schedule hosting Elizabethtown next Saturday.

Lycoming 83, Alvernia 73