Reading, Pa. (Jan. 14, 2023) - Alvernia University (12-4, 6-2) came up one point shy of a 19-point comeback as the Golden Wolves dropped an 87-86 decision to Hood College (9-7, 3-4) on Saturday afternoon in MAC Commonwealth Men's Basketball action at Alvernia.

The Golden Wolves trailed by 19 with 15 minutes to play and slowly chipped their way back into the game. Alvernia got within three on a Malik Green 3-pointer with 22 seconds to go. The Golden Wolves forced a foul and sent the Blazers to the line with a one-and-one opportunity. The first attempt missed and Alvernia collected the rebound. Green attempted a 3-pointer and collected his own rebound as time was expiring. He hit a driving layup at the buzzer and nearly drew the foul, but no foul was called as Alvernia came up one short.

The Blazers jumped out to a 7-0 lead after just two minutes of action, but a 3-pointer by Robert Mullan got Alvernia on the board. The Blazers answered with a three of their own, but Alvernia came back with a dunk by Keba Mitchell to get within five, 10-5, with 16:47 on the clock.

Four minutes later, Alvernia tied it up at 18-18 after back-to-back threes from Green, but the Blazers retook their lead on the next possession.

The Blazers kept it a two possession game for the next six minutes, and a 3-pointer from Hood's Christopher Small's gave the Blazers a 12 point advantage with 6:20 to play in the half.

The Golden Wolves worked their way back in and a layup from Jakob Kelly with 1:12 to go in the half brought Alvernia within three, 42-39. The Blazers scored the final two points of the half on free throws to make it a 44-39 game going into the break. 

The Blazers started the second half fast, jumping out to a 60-41 lead on a 16-2 run to start the second half.

Mullan then scored the next five for Alvernia to slow the Blazers down and spark a 12-2 run for Alvernia that brought the Golden Wolves within nine, 62-53, with 12:42 to play.

Alvernia trailed by six with 4:10 to play as Green and Jalil Schenck and Hood's Trumaine Strickland traded threes. A driving layup by Kelly brought Alvernia within four, 83-79, with two minutes to play. Alvernia hovered within four-to-six points until Green hit his three with 22 seconds to play. Green then followed that with his layup, but Alvernia fell one point short.

Green finished with a career-high 42 points for Alvernia, accounting for nearly half of Alvernia's 86. Green was 14-for-24 with eight 3-pointers. He was also 6-for-6 from the line. Kelly finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Alvernia has a conference bye on Wednesday and will take on Arcadia on Wednesday.