Williamsport, Pa. (Feb. 25, 2015) – Fourth-seeded Alvernia University (17-9) scored the first 14 points of the game and held a comfortable lead the rest of the way in a 96-74 win over #1 Lycoming College (18-8) Wednesday evening in semifinal action of the Commonwealth Conference Men's Basketball Championships at Lamade Gymnasium.
 
The Warriors got on the board at 15:40 on a layup from Malcolm Covington, but Alvernia answered with seven straight capped by a 3 from Mike Miller for a 21-2 lead.
 
Alvernia junior Charles Cooper scored the first nine points of the game hitting three straight 3s.  Lycoming went 0-for-7 from the floor with a pair of turnovers in the first four-plus minutes.
 
"I just think we have been playing that way," said head coach Mike Miller of his team's torrid start.  "Our winning streak we've been playing with a lot of momentum."
 
The Crusaders are now riding a season-high, six-game winning streak, and will carry an eight-game conference tournament winning streak into #2 Stevenson University on Saturday for the Conference Final.
 
Alvernia led by as many as 25 points in the first half and settled for an 18-point lead at the break, 48-30.
 
"After [losing to] them the first two times we certainly had to make some adjustments," said Miller.  "We went zone and they had some trouble solving that, and we attacked the pressure differently and solved that."
 
Lycoming sent ferocious trapping pressure at the Crusaders trying to hasten the pace of the game, but the Crusaders were able to pass over and through the traps before the double-teams could arrive assisting on six of the first seven buckets of the game.  The only unassisted bucket an offensive putback from Harrison Deyo after Cooper finally missed a 3.
 
Lycoming opened the second half with eight of the first 10 points and was able to cut the gap down to 12 points, 50-38, with 15:50 to go, but Deyo was good on a layup and a foul and the Crusaders put together a 15-6 run to surged back ahead by 21.
 
Cooper finished the night with a career-high 34 points and a record nine 3s surpassing the previous mark of eight held by Chris Alba (1/31/01 at Marywood), Stefan Thompson (2/4/12 vs Lebanon Valley), and Kahlil Bennett (12/30/13 vs SUNY-Old Westbury).
 
It's the third time in two weeks Cooper has threatened the record going for seven 3s in wins over Lebanon Valley and Arcadia in the last nine days.
 
"Even last year in the playoffs last year, the bigger the game the better he plays," Miller said of his junior shooter.  "That's just the type of guy he is."
 
Cooper also got plenty of help Wednesday as the Crusaders put up a season-high 96 points.  Deyo finished with a monster double-double scoring 23 points and helping the Crusaders win the battle of the boards 44-38 with 16 rebounds.  Miller scored 17 points knocking down three 3s and Lamont Clark finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
 
Lycoming put three players in double figures led by 16 points from Malcolm Covington.
 
Alvernia returns to Stevenson on Saturday for a rematch of last year's final which Cooper won with an off-balance prayer at the buzzer.
 
#4 Alvernia 96, #1 Lycoming 74