Reading, Pa. (Feb. 27, 2012) - After being the road team in the 4-5 matchup in three straight appearances, Alvernia University (17-8) finally gets to play host Wednesday night as the #4 seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region Tournament.  Fifth-seeded Wilkes University (17-9) will pay a visit to the Physical Education Center Wednesday evening for a 7:00 tip.

The other three Wednesday night games in the eight-team tournament feature #8 PSU-Behrend (16-11) visiting top-seeded Juniata College (18-9), #7 DeSales University (15-10) traveling to #2 LaRoche College (18-8), and #6 Gwynedd-Mercy College (17-9) traveling to #3 Catholic University (17-8).  Wednesday's winners will travel to the highest remaining seed for a Final Four on Saturday and Sunday.

Alvernia finished in a three-way tie for third place in the Commonwealth Conference but lost out on the tiebreakers to finish just out of the playoffs.  Wilkes qualified for the Freedom Conference playoffs as the #2 seed and finished runner up to Misericordia.

Wilkes holds a slight 4-3 edge in the series over Alvernia.  The series started in the early 80s with Wilkes winning the first three.  Alvernia took the next three decisions including the first game in the Crusaders' only year in the Freedom Conference (2008-09) and Wilkes came back with a win in the second game that year--the most recent in the series.

The Crusaders have three players averaging double figures led by Second Team All-Commonwealth forward Stefan Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./G.A.M.P.) at 13.6 points per game.  The Colonels have four players in double figures led by senior center Kendall Hinze at 15.8.  Hinze was named First Team All-Freedom.

Wednesday's action can be seen live through Crusaders All-Access or via Live Stats.