Chester, Pa. (Feb. 15, 2022) - Alvernia University (18-5, 11-4) overcame a 17-point second half deficit to defeat Widener University (12-12, 6-9) 88-83 on Tuesday night in MAC Commonwealth Men's Basketball action at Widener.

Widener took a 58-43 lead on a three-pointer from Jared Peters with 14:47 left in the second half. Alvernia began to chip away from there and traded the lead a few times until a massive dunk by Keon Taylor over three Pride defenders with 2:38 left in the half gave Alvernia the lead for good, 78-71. Alvernia converted free throws down the stretch and came away with the 88-83 win to snap Widener's five–game winning streak.

The opening six minutes of action saw several lead changes until a three-pointer by Peters gave Widener a three point lead, 13-10, with 14:07 on the clock. Widener built the lead up to as much as five, 22-17, until Keon Taylor knocked down a three and Malik Green scored a layup to tie it up at 22-22 with 7:48 remaining in the first half.

With the game still tied just about three minutes later, now at 28-28, Widener went on a 9-0 run over two and a half minutes to jump out to a 37-28 advantage with 2:39 left in the opening half.

Alvernia chipped away over the final two minutes, and a layup as time expired from Taylor brought Alvernia within twi, 39-37, going into the half. 

The Pride opened up the half on a fast-paced 19-4 run to see their lead quickly jump to 58-41 with the run being capped by the Peters' three with 14:47 left in the game.

Jakob Kelly scored five of Alvernia's next six points to bring the Golden Wolves within 11, 58-47, in just 45 seconds of action. Following a Widener free throw, Alvernia got within seven after a Green jumper and Avery Walker three, 59-52, with 12:53 on the clock.

Just about 90 seconds later, with Alvernia now trailing by five, 61-56, three straight field goals from Kelly put Alvernia back in front, 62-61, with 9:44 to play.

A jumper from Steve Pierce on Alvernia's next possession gave Alvernia the three point lead, 64-61, but Widener would retake the lead following back-to-back jumpers. Following a 3-pointer from Pat Holden and a Peters' layup, Widener's lead jumped back to two possessions, 70-65, with 7:37 to play.

Widener held onto the lead for the next four minutes until a Taylor jumper gave Alvernia the lead back, 76-75, with three minutes to play. Widener again retook the lead on a jumper on its next possession until Taylor took the inbounds down the court and slammed down a massive career dunk - the first of his career- of three Pride defenders. The dunk gave Alvernia the lead for good, 78-77, with 2:38 to play.

Alvernia forced back-to-back missed shots by the Pride while the Golden Wolves were sent to the line twice and converted three of their four opportunities to extend their lead up to four, 81-77, with 1:33 to play. 

Two made free throws by Widener's Peters brought the Pride within two, but Kelly scored a layup and converted an and-one opportunity to put Alvernia up by five, 84-79. Back-to-back layups from the Pride brought them back within one, 84-83, but Green took a fastbreak layup down the court to make it a three point game, 86-83.

Green then scored two free throws with three seconds left to put the game out of reach and seal Alvernia's 88-83 win.

Taylor led Alvernia with 24 points and added four boards. Kelly finished with 18 points, and Green finished with 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

With the win, Alvernia locked in the #3 seed in the all-comers MAC Commonwealth playoff. Alvernia will host the #6 seed on Wednesday, February 23.