BOX SCORE

Glenside, Pa. (Feb. 3, 2010) - Junior guard Seth Cornell (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) knocked down his fifth 3 of the night with 16 seconds left to force overtime, and Alvernia University (14-6, 5-4) scored 18 points in the extra frame for an 82-75 win over Arcadia University (6-13, 0-9) in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action at Arcadia.

In a crazy night of hoops in the conference, where two games were decided by one point and the other two went to overtime, Alvernia got double digit efforts from all five starters and all 82 points from the same five.

Cornell led the way with 22 points.  He and sophomore guard Tad Gillis (Upper Darby, Pa/Upper Darby) both played all 45 minutes with Gillis accounting for 19 points, 10 of which came in overtime.  Senior Nick Rivera (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) scored 18 points in 39 minutes, Stefan Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./G.A.M.P.) added 13 points in 41 minutes, and Brian Nerney (Middletown, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) added 10 points in 31 minutes.

Three of the four starters, Nerney, Rivera, and Thopmson finished the game with four fouls apiece.

Alvernia raced out to an 11-0 lead capped by Cornell's first 3 of the night.  The lead hit a dozen, 14-2 on a Gillis 3, but Arcadia whittled it down to two points, 20-18 with 4:28 left in the half and Alvernia settled for a 25-23 lead at the break.

"We let them back into it a little bit," said Alvernia head coach Mike Miller, "with some bad shot selection and some turnovers."

The second half started much the same way the first did with Alvernia running off the first 10 points fueled by a Cornell 3 and a Rivera dunk.  This time the lead hit 13 points at its height, 41-29 with 14:19 left in regulation, and the Knights needed just five minutes to cut that gap to two, 47-45 at the 9:12 mark.

"I think it was more they figured out our zone by that point," admitted Miller about the Knights' second half comeback.  Arcadia finished the night 10-for-22 from the 3-point arc, mostly against the Crusaders' zone.

Cornell had another 3 to answer the Arcadia run, and back-to-back Rivera layups pushed the lead to nine points for the guests. 

The lead was seven points, 61-54 when Gillis assisted Nerney on a layup with 2:22 on the clock, but Arcadia got a jumper from Jason Thompson, and turned back-to-back Gillis turnovers into points to knot the score at 61-all with 1:17 on the clock.

The 10th, and final Arcadia 3 gave the hosts their only lead of the game, 64-61 with 25 seconds left in regulation, but Cornell had the answer one more time.

"I wanted it," said the Crusader sharpshooter with no hesitation.  "I wanted the ball with a shot to tie the game."

And his coach wanted him to have it.

"When they went up three we called timeout and setup a 3 for Seth," said Miller.   "And he drained it."

He drained it just like he did earlier this season hitting a shot to beat Lebanon Valley.

Miller continued in his postgame recap repeating the same simple refrain he has all season.

"You gotta make shots," said Miller again on Wednesday, "and tonight we did."

After Cornell's heroics, Rivera and Gillis opened the overtime frame splitting free throws.  Then after a Thompson layup the Crusaders ran off seven straight for a comfortable lead which they held through the final horn.

They return home to host Messiah College on Saturday after taking part in a night about as competitive as any league could assemble.  Messiah hit three 3s in the final two minutes protecting home with a 61-60 win over Etown, Lebanon Valley needed overtime to do the same against Lycoming, and Widener stole one at Albright with a buzzer-beating 49-48 win.

Facing the Falcons on Saturday is a proposition that evokes another of Miller's familiar refrains.

"It's important," he said, "but it's even more important because it's at home. This league isn't going to be settled till the last game of the year. It comes back to you gotta protect home."

Alvernia 82, Arcadia 75 (OT)