BOX SCORE

Reading, Pa. (Jan. 30, 2010) - Alvernia University opened the conference season shooting 65 percent from the floor and stole a win at preseason favorite Elizabethtown.  Twenty minutes into Saturday's rematch at Alvernia the Blue Jays had to think it was deja vu all over again as the Crusaders hit 60 percent from the floor and took a 41-37 lead into the halftime break.

The second half was a completely different story. 

The Jays took a turn at a 60 percent clip while the Crusaders (13-6, 4-4) dipped to 34 percent and Elizabethtown (13-5, 5-3) earned a 79-69 Commonwealth Conference win.

"I was really concerned about our defense in the first half, "said Etown head coach Bob Schlosser after the game.  "Our bench didn't really held us as much in the first half.  I think they sorta gassed out in the second half.  Our team seemed to have better legs."

Whether it was lack of energy or a stepped up defensive effort, the Crusaders struggled to find the range in the second half.  Senior center Nick Rivera (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) and junior guard Seth Cornell (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor), the scoring stars of the win at Etown, each went 5-for-5 in the first half, but returned to earth in the second.  Cornell was limited in finding open shots and went 0-for-7 after the break while Rivera did hit 4-of-7 from the floor, but just 1-of-6 from the free throw line.

"We gotta make shots," said Alvernia head man Mike Miller.  "Jump shots and foul shots.  We made shots at Etown.  [Today] we didn't make shots."

His answers were short and to the point.  It's perhaps an oversimplification of how they reached the end result, but in the end there is only one number that matters.

"Credit them, they made shots," said Miller.

Senior center Mike Church made most of them going 10-for-13 from the floor.  His play late in the first saved the Jays from facing an even greater halftime deficit.

Alvenia led by eight, 39-31 when Cornell knocked down his fifth shot of the half with 3:02 left on the clock, and Church answered in the paint.

After an Alvernia miss, Church scored again on a layup and his final bucket of the half posted the 41-37 halftime score.  Rivera's five hoops, which came in just 14 minutes due to foul trouble, accounted for 11 points while Cornell, who hit all three 3s he attempted led the way with 13.

Church displayed his versatility knocking down his second 3 of the day two minutes into the second half to put the Jays up 47-45 and sparking a run of 11 straight during which he and fellow big man Brian Harrity combined for nine.

As Church and Rivera continued to cancel each other out the Blue Jays continued to use other mismatches.  Harrity scored nine of his 11 points after halftime and Brian Allport, the third 6'4"-plus option for Etown cleaned up five of his seven boards in the second and knocked down a 3.

Alvernia cut the deficit down to six points, 62-56 with 9:29 to play, but Etown surged back to a 13-point lead with seven straight capped by Harrity's layup with 6:54 to go.

Sophomore Tad Gillis (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) quietly put up 19 points, six boards, and six assists for Alvernia and Brian Nerney (Middletown, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) reached double figures with 10.  Keith Fogel joined Church and Harrity in double digits for Etown with 18.

With the loss, Alvernia stays in a tie for fourth place with Messiah College, one game clear of Widener.  Both are now one game behind Etown in third.  The Crusader have six games left on the conference schedule, three at home and three on the road.

"We're not out of it," said Miller, "but it's a process.  We hit a wall right now and we're not getting better.  We have to get better."

The Crusaders have a chance to get better at Arcadia on Wednesday then host Messiah next Saturday.

Elizabethtown 79, Alvernia 69