Reading, Pa. (Jan. 19, 2022) - Alvernia University (9-5, 4-4) used an explosive first half and a career night from senior Avery Walker to handle Widener University (7-9, 2-6) 84-67 in MAC Commonwealth Men's Basketball action on Wednesday night at Alvernia's Jack McCloskey Court.

After an early 4-4 tie between the Pride and Golden Wolves, Alvernia went on a 20-4 run over nearly seven minutes to jump out to a 24-8 lead. Alvernia, paced by a career high 24 points from Walker, led the rest of the way to close out the first cycle of MAC Commonwealth play in the win column. 

The Golden Wolves opened the scoring with a layup from Mickeel Allen, but Widener tied it up at 2-2 with a layup from Jared Peters after one minute of action. 

After back-and-forth turnovers on both sides, Keon Taylor put Alvernia in front, 4-2, with 17:58 to play. Widener agained tied it up at 4-4 after a layup off an Alvernia turnover at the 17:09 mark.

A jumper from Allen on Alvernia's next possession sparked the 20-4 run that put the Golden Wolves up 24-8 at the halfway mark of the first half.

The run saw six Golden Wolves scores - led by six points off the hands Walker. Alvernia went 8-for-15 on the run, including four 3-pointers. The Golden Wolves also forced five turnovers by the Pride to help limit Widener to four points. 

Widener forced an Alvernia turnover with just under nine minutes left in the first half and scored off a fastbreak layup to break Alvernia's run and make it a 24-10 game.

The scoring slowed for the Golden Wolves, but Widener continued to struggle to make a basket. Following a made free throw by the Pride, Walker knocked down a deep three at the 6:13 mark to extend Alvernia's lead to 27-11. 

The Golden Wolves and Pride traded layups before Walker knocked down his second three in 90 seconds to put Alvernia up 19, 32-13. Walker's hand stayed hot as he took a fastbreak layup down the court following a steal by Rece Harman to put Alvernia up by 21, 34-13 - it's largest lead thus far - at the 4:29 mark.

Alvernia hovered between a 15-20 point lead the rest of the half and took a 42-23 lead going into the break.

Widener scored the opening points of the second half with Kenny Lewis making a layup through contact and converting his and-one opportunity to cut Widener's deficit to 16, 42-26, in the opening 18 seconds of the second half.

A 3-pointer by Malik Green about a minute later reignited Alvernia's offense and put the Golden Wolves ahead 45-26 with 18:29 on the clock. Back-to-back layups by Green and Jakob Kelly gave Alvernia a 23 point lead, 49-26, with over 17 minutes to play. 

Alvernia's defense kept the Pride from getting in any sort of offensive rhythm as Alvernia maintained a 20+ point lead throughout much of the second half. 

With 6:11 left in the half and Alvernia leading by 26, 71-45, Widener converted a driving layup from Matt Daulerio, but, once again, Alvernia responded with a 3-pointer from Walker. Two possessions later Alvernia took its largest lead of the game in explosive fashion as Taylor blocked a Widener layup, Kelly collected the rebound, and Walker drove it down the court and slammed down a dunk to put Alvernia up by 29, 78-49, with just under five minutes to play. 

The Pride cut Alvernia's lead down to 17 over the final minutes but could never get any closer as Alvernia came away with the 84-67 win.

Walker, a senior, came off the bench and led Alvernia with a career high 24 points. Tonight's game was his first career game with over 20 points. His previous career high came earlier this season with 17 points against Gwynedd Mercy on Nov. 11, 2021. Walker was 9-for-12 on the night, including six 3-pointers. He also added four boards and two steals.

Taylor finished the night with 16 points and nine rebounds. Kelly also finished with nine boards and added 11 points. Green finished his night with 11 points, and Jacob Stoudt also reached double digits with 10 points. 

Alvernia's offense was 32-for-69 from the floor and 12-for-31 from behind the arc. The Golden Wolves held Widener to 26-for-71 from the floor and just 3-for-14 from three point range.

Alvernia closes out its first cycle of MAC Commonwealth play with a 4-4 conference record. Two of those four losses were a result of Covid cancelations, while Alvernia also dropped contests to Stevenson in a triple-overtime thriller and Hood College in an eight point loss. Alvernia sits behind Hood (7-1) and Eastern University (8-0). The Eagles are in just their second year of MAC Commonwealth competition and went from 0-6 in the modified 2020-21 schedule to being undefeated at the turn this season. 

In a one-time expansion approved by the MAC last week, all nine teams will make the MAC Commonwealth postseason for both men's and women's basketball during the 2021-22 season. 

The Golden Wolves return to action on Saturday at York College to start round two of MAC Commonwealth play. Alvernia defeated York 76-69 at home on December 1st in the first meeting of the two schools.