Reading, Pa. (Feb. 8, 2017) – Albright College (11-12, 9-5) went 4-for-6 from the floor in overtime and went 6-for-7 from the free throw line in an 82-76 win over Alvernia University (13-9, 7-6) Wednesday evening in MAC Commonwealth men's basketball action at Jack McCloskey Court.
 
Alvernia junior Alex Shippen scored the last four points of regulation to tie the score at 68-all and sophomore Reid Hoff nailed a 3 on the first possession of overtime to give the home team the lead.
 
Albright got a driving 3-point play from DeJuan Smith to tie the score again, but Shippen answered with a 3 giving Alvernia a 74-71 lead with 3:32 left in overtime.
 
The Crusaders managed just a pair of free throws the rest of the way while the Lions finished the game with an 11-2 run.
 
"Credit to them," said Alvernia head coach Mike Miller.  "They executed better down the stretch.  That's why they won the game.  They got better shots."
 
Albright got a jumper from freshman Fred Rowles then a fastbreak layup from Smith to take the 75-74 lead then added two free throws from Smith and a jumper from Omari Ringgold for a 79-74 lead with 1:23 to play.
 
Ringgold finished with a team-high 21 points—including the 1,000^th of his career.  Shippen paced the Crusaders with a game-high 23 points.  George Williams had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Marquis Marshall had his third straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.  Mike Miller, Jr. also reached double figures with 16.
 
Alvernia jumped out to a 10-1 lead capped by a 3 from Shippen, and held a 37-35 lead at halftime.  Miller led the way for the Crusaders with 14 through the first 20 minutes with 14 points.
 
The Crusaders had a six point lead, 60-54 with 7:10 left in regulation, but the Lions erased that with a 14-4 run over the next six and a half minutes that had them up 68-64 with 1:24 on the clock.
 
Albright committed a turnover with 53 seconds left and Shippen cut the late lead in half then Jayson Clark missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 19 seconds to go.  Alvernia took a timeout with 10 seconds left and wanted to get the ball to Miller, Jr. for a look at a 3, but the Lions defense took that away and Shippen turned the corner at the top of the key to score a layup with 1.1 left.
 
Alvernia is tied with Widener for fourth place in the league standings with three games to go.  The Crusaders are on the road at Arcadia and Stevenson this coming Saturday and Tuesday then wrap up the regular season next Saturday hosting Widener.
 
The top five teams make the postseason tournament in the MAC Commonwealth with the 4/5 game being played Monday, Feb. 20.
 
Albright 82, Alvernia 76 (OT)