BOX SCORE Reading, Pa. (Jan. 18, 2014) – Senior
Kahlil Bennett (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) scored 19 first-half points and
Brian Parker (Chichester, Pa./Chichester) and
Harrison Deyo (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) hit 14-of-17 shots from the floor leading Alvernia University (9-5, 5-3) to an 85-64 win over Elizabethtown College (6-9, 3-5) Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action at Jack McCloskey Court.
Bennett hit four 3s in the first half knocking down back-to-back triples as the Crusaders pushed out to a 21-7 lead at the 12:07 mark. Sophomore reserve
Charles Cooper (Parkesburg, Pa./Octorara) hit a 3 from the corner a minute later and the Alvernia lead was 17.
Etown pulled as close at 10 points, 30-20, but Alvernia scored 12 of the last 18 points of the half to hit the break with a 42-26 lead. Bennett scored six points during the run and the Crusaders hit five straight shots from the floor at one point.
The Crusaders held a 21-point lead, 61-40, with 9:59 to play when the game slowed down a bit and the Jays scored five straight points to cut the gap to 16. Deyo infused a little life in the building hammering home an alley-oop followed by a fast-break dunk.
"Just look at his line," said Alvernia head coach
Mike Miller of Deyo after the win. "Six for seven [from the floor] and 6-for-7 [from the line] with five rebounds. Again, he's a confidence player, and he has room for improvement. The sky's the limit. Credit to him he keeps working on the little things."
Deyo was averaging 38 percent from the free throw line following a loss at Messiah last Saturday, but went 10-for-11 from the stripe this week including 4-for-4 in the final minute of a win over Widener.
The Crusaders pushed the lead back over 20 points on a pair of free throws from Parker with 5:11 to play and had it as high as 28 points, 83-55, with the benches battling it out over the last 3:30.
Parker led the way with a game-high 21 points, Bennett finished with 19 points, and Deyo added 18.
"Look at Kahlil's line too," said Miller. "And he's not worried about his points. I thought he scored in the second half. I asked him if that was a mistake and he said, 'Coach, we won, that's all that matters.'"
The Crusaders won for the seventh time in seven tries at home, and after a road game at Arcadia next Wednesday, they start the second time through the conference schedule with a big game hosting Lebanon Valley next Saturday.
"At this time of the year right now, guys are improving," said Miller, "and what's nice is I think we have room to get better. You can't just have or two guys. You need eight solid guys where everybody knows their role."
Alvernia 85, Elizabethtown 64
