Reading, Pa. (Jan. 20, 2016) – Alvernia University (9-8, 5-3) got a game and career-high 27 points from junior Marquis Marshall in a 75-65 win over crosstown rival Albright College (6-11, 3-5) Wednesday evening in MAC Commonwealth men's basketball action at the Bollman Center.
 
Marshall hit 10-of-15 from the floor—including 3-for-4 from the arc—and grabbed 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double.
 
The Crusaders put four players in double figures.  George Sapp scored 13 points, Alex Shippen added a dozen and Charles Cooper scored 11 points.
 
Cooper scored his 1,000th career point on a fastbreak layup late in the first half.  He becomes the 23rd player in Alvernia men's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points.
 
Alvernia opened up a 20-point lead at the halftime break, 43-23.  Albright closed the gap to 10 points, 51-41, just over seven minutes into the half, but never got inside double digits.
 
Alvernia has now won three in a row over Albright and improves to 17-13 in the series.  The Crusaders moved into a 3-way tie for second place in the conference with Lebanon Valley and Arcadia both suffering losses Wednesday night.
 
The Lions got an early 3 from Omari Ringgold for a 5-2 lead then needed another 3 from DeJuan Smith to pull within a point, 9-8, before Alvernia established control with a 13-5 midway through the opening half.
 
The Crusaders' lead hit 10 points on a layup from Mike Miller that made it 27-17 with 7:46 on the clock, and the guests pushed it to 20 points, 41-21 with just under two minutes left.
 
The teams traded buckets and the Crusaders took a 43-23 lead at the break.
 
Alvernia shot 17-for-27 in the first half and got 15 points from Marshall who went 6-for-8 from the floor and hit all three 3s he attempted in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Ringgold hit a 3 on the first possession of the second half for the Lions then hit two more in the next three minutes, but the effort only trimmed five points off the Alvernia lead with Marshall scoring on the inside and Sapp hitting a pair of free throws.
 
The Lions put together a second run scoring seven straight points to set the 51-41 score, but Miller hit a big 3 late in the shot clock to push the gap back to 13 points and Reid Hoff picked a good time for his only bucket of the game on the next possession, a 3 from the left elbow that put Alvernia back up 14 points, 57-43 with 11:03 to go.
 
The Crusaders kept the lead in double digits the rest of the way.
 
Alvernia returns home to start a stretch of four straight at home hosting Widener on Saturday.
 
Alvernia 75, Albright 65