BOX SCORE  | MATRIX

Frederick, Md. (Feb. 18, 2014) – Alvernia University (17-7, 13-5) got a career-high 20 points off the bench from Charles Cooper (Parkesburg, Pa./Octorara) and earned a much-needed road victory over Hood College (16-9, 10-8) by a 76-72 final Tuesday evening in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action at BB&T Arena.

Cooper came in off the bench with the Crusaders struggling to knock down shots and hit 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and 7-of-14 overall.  Junior Kirby Turner (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) also provided a crucial effort in reserve diving on the floor for loose balls, taking charges, and going 2-for-2 from the floor with three rebounds in 10 minutes.

Cooper entered the game for junior starter Lamont Clark (Parkesburg, Pa./Octorara) at the 13:06 mark of the first when the Crusaders' defensive stopper picked up his second foul.  Cooper knocked down a pair of jumpers and hit his first 3 as the Crusaders erased an 8-point deficit and took their first lead of the game, 19-18, on the Cooper triple.

Two layups from Turner and another from Cooper helped Alvernia push its lead to four points, 25-21, with 6:24 left in the first half.

Kahlil Bennett (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) hit a 3 to put the Crusaders up eight and after a Hood run cut the lead back down to one point, Bennett knocked down another 3 on the final possession of the half for a 40-36 lead at the break.

The Alvernia lead stayed between three and eight points for much of the second half until another 3 from Cooper from right in front of the team bench put the Crusaders up nine points, 67-58, with 5:23 to play.

Hood knocked the lead down to five points on a 3-point play with 1:52 to go, but Alvernia hit enough free throws down the stretch to stay comfortably ahead.

Harrison Deyo (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) put together a solid effort with 16 points and nine rebounds, and Brian Parker (Chichester, Pa./Chichester) scored 12 points.  Hood had a pair of players reach 20 points in Justin Bowens and Cameron Cook.

Alvernia remains in a tie for second place in the league with Stevenson.  Both teams are a game behind Messiah.  Hood has locked itself into fourth place for the playoffs and four teams remain in the hunt for the fifth and final spot.

Alvernia hosts Messiah on Saturday.  If Messiah wins it will be the top seed in the playoffs.  If Alvernia wins it would be #1 with a Stevenson loss to Lebanon Valley or #2 with a Stevenson win.  Stevenson holds tie-breakers over both Alvernia and Messiah.  Alvernia needs a win on Saturday to claim the tiebreaker over Messiah.

Albright and Lycoming are tied at 8-9 in fifth place with Lebanon Valley and Widener both a game back in seventh at 7-10.

The fifth place team will travel to Hood College for a first-round game on Monday, Feb. 24.  The two semifinals will be at the top two seeds on Wednesday with the final scheduled for the following Saturday at the highest remaining seed.

Alvernia 76, Hood 72