Reading, Pa. (Feb. 3, 2016) – Mike Miller, Jr. scored a career-high 27 points to lead Alvernia University (13-8, 9-3) to a 78-70 win over Hood College (11-10, 5-7) Wednesday evening in MAC Commonwealth men's basketball action at Jack McCloskey Court.
 
Miller knocked down seven of the 10 3s he attempted and surpassed his previous best of 26.  The Crusaders opened up a two-game lead on Lycoming with the Warriors' 21-point loss to Messiah, and a two and a half game lead over Arcadia and Lebanon Valley who both also lost Wednesday.
 
Hood got a three-point play from Tanner Ruths with 1:06 left to play to pull within five points, 71-66, but Alvernia hit 7-of-8 from the free throws in the final minute to seal the win.
 
"Again, our foul shooting has been consistent," said Alvernia head coach Mike Miller Sr. "It comes down to that at the end of these games.  That's how you protect leads.  You gotta make fouls."
 
The Crusaders hit 24-of-27 from the line for the game.  George Sapp and Marquis Marshall made seven each, and Charles Cooper and Miller, Jr. were both 4-for-4.
 
Alvernia started the game hitting shots from the floor.  The offense moved the ball around the Hood zone on the opening possession that ended in a Miller 3.  Five minutes later the Crusaders third 3 of the game had them up 13-3.
 
"I hate when you start a game off like that where everything is going in," said Miller, Sr.  "You get a false sense of security like 'this is over, we're going to get everything we want.'   Those first five minutes we just threw it around and bang it's 13-3."
 
Hood answered with eight straight points to cut the gap to two, 13-11, while the Crusaders hit a cold spell going 0-for-5 from the floor with three turnovers.
 
"Overall I thought we had some bad stretches…discipline wise," said Miller, Sr.  "We didn't stay in front of them, we took some bad shots, we made some lazy passes."
 
Marshall kicked the Crusaders out of the funk with a 3 and a highlight-reel alley-oop assisted by Alex Shippen, then Miller, Jr. hit back-to-back 3s for a 24-15 lead.
 
Hood had that lead back down to two points, but Alvernia closed the half with a 9-2 spurt for a 39-28 lead at the break.
 
Alvernia's second-half lead hit 12 points in the early going, 41-29, but another Hood run had that down to just one point, 49-48 with 10:55 to play.
 
Cooper gave the Crusaders some breathing room with a fastbreak layup and Sapp picked the right time to knock down a big 3 for a 54-48 lead.  The gap stayed between two and eight points for the Crusaders the rest of the way.
 
Alvernia hits the road for three of the final four games of the regular season starting with a trip to Lebanon Valley on Saturday.
 
Alvernia 78, Hood 70