Reading, Pa. (Feb. 19, 2022) - Alvernia University (18-6, 11-5) saw its home win streak and 10-game overall win streak snapped as the Golden Wolves fell to Hood College (17-6, 14-2) 87-78 on Saturday afternoon in the MAC Commonwealth regular season finale at Alvernia.
Going into Saturday, Alvernia had not lost at home all season. The Golden Wolves were also on a ten-game winning streak that dated back to January 19th. Alvernia's last loss before Saturday also came at the hands of the Blazers in a 74-66 decision on January 15.
There were eight lead changes and two ties in the opening six minutes of action, but an Evan Wang layup with 12:40 remaining in the first half gave the Blazers a 20-17 lead, and a three pointer from Soren Almquist two minutes later extended Hood's lead to 24-19. A Mason Wang layup made it a seven point game, 26-19, with 9:46 to play.
Keon Taylor then converted two free throws to bring Alvernia within five, 26-21, and Taylor then knocked down a three to make it a two point game, 26-24, with 8:35 to play in the opening half.
After two made Blazer free throws to push Hood's lead back to four, Taylor converted a free throw off an Avery Walker steal to bring Alvernia back within two, 28-26.
Hood then scored six quick points in less than a minute to drive its lead back up to eight, 34-26, with 5:56 to play in the first.
Alvernia then converted four straight free throws to again bring the game back within four, 34-30 with 4:27 on the first half clock.
Hood then went on a 9-3 run to close out the half and take a 43-33 lead over Alvernia into the break.
The Blazers extended their lead to 47-33 in the opening minutes of the second half as Alvernia didn't put a point on the board for nearly three minutes.
Later in the half, Alvernia went on a 9-0 run to pull within four, 52-48, after back-to-back layups from Malik Green and Steve Pierce with 14:16 to play.
Hood then called a timeout, regrouped, and scored two quick layups to extend its lead back to eight, 58-50, with 12:51 to play.
A minute later, a jumper from Jakob Kelly made it a six point game, 60-54, with 11:58 to play.
Hood's Lual Chol then hit a 3-pointer on Hood's next possession to spark a 10-0 run for the Blazers and extend Hood's lead to 16, 7-54, with 9:36 to play.
The Golden Wolves then flipped it and went on a 15-5 run of their own that was capped off by a Green 3-pointer with 6:09 to play to make it a six point game, 75-69.
Alvernia would not get any closer than six until the final 30 seconds when Jacob Stoudt made a free throw to bring Alvernia within five, 83-78. But, Alvernia was forced to foul the Blazers and Hood converted its final four free throw attempts as the Blazers came away with the 87-78 win.
Avery Walker led Alvernia with 22 points, including 15 off of three-pointers. Jakob Kelly finished with a 15 point, 14 rebound double-double for Alvernia.
With the win, the Blazers became co-MAC Commonwealth regular season champions with Eastern University. The loss for Alvernia did not affect its standings in the MAC Commonwealth as Alvernia had locked up the three seed earlier this week. Alvernia will host #6 Widener at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, February 23rd. The winner of that game will face the winner of #7 Albright vs. #2 Hood on Friday.
