Scranton, Pa. (Nov. 15, 2014) - Junior Charles Cooper notched career highs in points (21) and rebounds (11) in his first career double-double to lead Alvernia University (1-0) to a 94-88 win over John Carroll (0-1) in the opening game of the Radisson Men's Basketball Tip-Off Tournament hosted by the University of Scranton Saturday afternoon.

Alvernia trailed by a point with just over five minutes to go when freshman Mike Miller hit a 3 to start a 7-0 run that put Alvernia up 84-78 with 3:25 to play.  Senior Lamont Clark scored twice in the paint after the Miller 3.

John Carroll cut back to a one-possession game twice, but Alvernia got a pair of free throws from Cooper and a tip-in from Harrison Deyo to push back to a seven point lead, and made enough free throws down the stretch for the win.

Miller opened his career with an impressive game scoring 19 points off the bench fueled by a 4-for-8 effort from the arc.  The Crusaders went 10-for-20 from the 3-point line.

Cooper nailed a 3 with 4:59 left in the first half and the Crusaders had a 15-point lead, 41-26, but JCU scored 12 of the final 14 points of the half to hit the break trailing by just five, 43-38.

JCU finally tied the score at 53-all and hit a pair of free throw for a 78-77 lead before the Miller 3.

Alvernia will face the winner of the Scranton/Centenary game in Sunday's championship game.

Alvernia 94, John Carroll 88