Annville, Pa. (Feb. 6, 2016) – Alvernia University (14-8, 10-3) hit 20-of-23 free throws and held on down the stretch for a 86-82 win over Lebanon Valley College (12-9, 6-6) Saturday afternoon in MAC Commonwealth men's basketball action at Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
The Crusaders have a 2.5 game lead over Arcadia with three games left in the regular season.
 
Alvernia took a 73-62 lead with 6:24 to play on a layup from Marquis Marshall then saw the Dutchmen put together a run of eight straight to close the gap to three points with 2:50 to play.  Zach Mrozek started the run with a 3, and Sam Light closed it with five straight for the Dutchmen.  Alvernia went 0-for-5 from the floor and turned the ball over once during the scoreless stretch.
 
Marshall scored in the paint and drew a foul on LVC big man Andy Orr coming out of an Alvernia timeout.  He finished the three point play with the free throw then after an LVC possession—which included three offensive boards—ended in a pair of free throws from Light, Marshall and his teammates went to the line 12 times in the final minute converting 10.
 
LVC had the deficit down to one possession, with the ball, after Marshall's free throw with 10 seconds left set an 84-81 score.  The Crusaders decided to foul Light as he crossed the timeline instead of defend against a potential game-tying 3.
 
Light hit the first free throw and missed the second, but shot down the lane to corral the miss.  His momentum carried him onto the baseline giving the Crusaders the ball.  LVC fouled Marshall before the inbound then called its last timeout.
 
Marshall hit both free throws for the 86-82 score and Orr's 3 at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim.
 
Lebanon Valley started the game with an 8-0 lead and held 12 at 22-10 with 11:32 on the first half clock.
 
Alvernia got a pair of free throws from Charles Cooper to start a game-chaning run.  Alex Shippen and Cooper went back-to-back from the arc to pull the Crusaders within four, and two minutes later it was Cooper first then Shippen from 3 to put Alvernia up 28-26.
 
The run ended at 28-6 for the Crusaders and had the guests up 38-28 with 2:32 left in the half.  They settled for a 40-31 lead at the break.  The Crusaders—specifically Shippen and Cooper—combined to hit 5-of-6 3s in a seven minutes stretch.
 
The Dutchmen opened the second half with a scoring spurt that cut the gap down to two points, 47-45, but Alvernia went back in front 60-50 when Shippend capped a 13-5 run with a 3.
 
Alvernia shot 12-of-23 from the 3-point arc.  Shippend was 4-for-6, Cooper 3-for-7, Mike Miller, Jr. hit 3-of-4, and Reid Hoff was 2-for-2.
 
Hoff put together another solid line going the full 40 minutes scoring eight points, six rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.  Marshall—19 points and 12 boards—and Cooper—22 points—also played the full 40 minutes for Alvernia.
 
Miller scored 17 points hitting all eight free throws he attempted and Shippen scored 18 points in 21 minutes off the bench.  Orr led the Dutchmen with a game-high 28 points and Light scored 25.
 
Alvernia heads to Arcadia on Wednesday for a match-up of the top two teams in the standings.
 
Alvernia 86, Lebanon Valley 82