Reading, Pa. (Feb. 21, 2015) - Seniors Harrison Deyo and Lamont Clark were each exceptional in different halves leading Alvernia University (15-9, 10-6) to a 70-58 win over Albright College (9-15, 5-11) Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Conference men's basketball action at the Bollman Center.

Deyo collected two fouls in the first five minutes of the game, but managed to play the remaining 15 minutes of the first half without picking up a foul and also poured in 13 points helping the Crusaders force a 29-all tie at the halftime break.

Deyo picked up two more fouls in the first five-plus minutes of the second half, and this time took a seat while Clark took over scoring 19 of his 22 in the second half getting to the rim almost at will as the Lions tried to find a defender to slow him down.

Deyo took a seat for the first time in the game 5:29 into the second half when he picked up his fourth foul and the Crusaders holding a 41-40 lead. Albright took the lead back and twice held a one-point lead before Charles Cooper hit back-to-back 3s and Clark dropped in a layup to put the guests up 53-46. The lead remained five or more the rest of the way.

How The Tiebreaker Shook Out

1. Alvernia, Arcadia, Hood, and Stevenson all finished 10-6 in the league and the four schools were all 3-3 among the tied teams. 2. Hood and Stevenson were 1-1 vs. top-seeded Lycoming during the regular season, and would be compared head-to-head for the 2/3 sports, while Alvernia and Arcadia were both 0-2 against Lycoming. 3. Stevenson won the head-to-head against Hood on a +5 point differential in their two games to earn the #2 seed. Hood was given the #3 seed. 4. Alvernia and Arcadia split their season series and were both 0-2 against Lycoming. Alvernia earned the #4 seed by virtue of a 2-0 record against #2 Stevenson where Arcadia was 0-2 against Stevenson.

Albright had the deficit down to seven points, 60-53 with 6:13 to go, but Clark hit a huge 3 with the shot clock running down to push it back to 10, and Deyo returned to throw down a monster two-hand slam that put the Crusaders up 69-55 with 1:45 to play.

Alvernia--a two-time defending champion of the league--qualifies for the Commonwealth Conference Championships for the third straight season and will host Arcadia in the 4/5 quarterfinal game on Monday at 7:00 p.m.  Lycoming will host the winner of Monday's game in a semifinal on Wednesday, and Sevenson will host Hood in the other semifinal on Wednesday.  The final will be Saturday at the higher remaining seed.

Deyo opened the scoring in Saturday's game at the free throw line after drawing a foul on Albright senior Casey Burke on an offensive rebound in the game's opening possession.  His first dunk of the game gave the Crusaders a 3-2 lead and a jumper on the next possession put Alvernia up 5-2.  Three minutes later a Deyo foul on DeJuan Smith was the second of the game for the senior, but the Alvernia coaching staff decided to stay with the senior despite the foul trouble.

He responded with enough offense to keep the Crusaders in the game by the end of the half.

Albright surged ahead 18-10 on a 3 from Gilberto Benz, and held the same advantage after Benz knocked down a pair of free throws.

Deyo and Clark combined for three points from the free throw line then Clark drew the defense and found a trialing Deyo on the fast break for a thunderous one-hander that pulled the Crusaders within three, 20-17.

A minute later Deyo made a strong reverse move in the post and Burke came over the top with a hard foul.  He followed with a shove in Deyo's back resulting in a technical foul, but Clark also picked one up--his third foul of the game--coming to Deyo's aid.

Alvernia came out plus-2 on the free throws to pull back within three and after a Smith miss, Alvernia freshman Alex Shippen hit two free throws to cut the gap to one, 25-24, with 5:07 left in the half.

Albright held a four-point lead, 29-25, with just over 90 seconds left in the half, but Kirby Turner scored on a layup and Mike Miller hit a floater in the lane to force a 29-all tie at the half.

Albright pushed back aheady by five points early in the second half, but Alvernia took back the lead aided by a 3 from Cooper--the first of the game for the Crusaders--and a layup from Clark that set the 41-40 score.

Deyo matched his career high with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting and Clark finished one short of his career high with 22 points including a 7-for-10 effort in the second half.  Cooper also reached double figures with 11 points.  Albright got 12 points apiece from Omari Ringgold and Smith.

Alvernia takes a 16-13 advantage in the series, which has taken on new meaning since the Crusaders joined the Commonwealth for the start of the 2009-10 season.

The Crusaders are 6-0 in conference tournament games having won the league title as the #1 seed twice (2011 and 2013) and once as the #2 seed (2014).

Alvernia 70, Albright 58