BOX SCORE Chester, Pa (Jan. 25, 2023) - Alvernia University (14-5, 8-2) held off a late push from Widener University (12-6, 6-4) to defeat the Pride, 88-80, in MAC Commonwealth men's basketball action Wednesday night at Widener.
Alvernia got on the board first when Keba Mitchell finished a putback to give the Golden Wolves a 2-0 lead 45 seconds into the game.
Widener's Pat Holden answered with a three but Malik Green made a driving layup to make it 4-3 Alvernia.
Both teams traded buckets back and forth, but a Mitchell layup and a Robert Mullan three put the Golden Wolves up 9-8 with 15:48 left in the half.
Green and Mickeel Allen both made layups to extend Alvernia's lead to four, 13-9, with just over seven minutes gone in the first half.
The Pride went two minutes without scoring a bucket before Steven Matlack knocked down a three ball, but was quickly answered by Green with a three of his own to make it 16-12 Alvernia with 11 minutes left.
Holden knocked down a two point jumper to bring the Pride within two, 16-14.
Alvernia's Kelly made a free throw before Mitchell found Nigel Cooke open in the corner. Cooke knocked down the three pointer to push the Alvernia lead to 20-16 and force a Pride timeout with under eight to go.
Jalil Schenck buried a three to make it 23-16 Golden Wolves but Holden made a layup and knocked down a three to close the gap to two, 23-21.
Alvernia responded with layups by Mullan, Allen and Malik Slay to bring the Golden Wolves lead to eight, 29-21.
The Golden Wolves and the Pride traded baskets back and forth before Kevin Schenk made a three with 35 seconds left in the half to close the deficit to five. The Golden Wolves took a 34-29 lead into the half.
Mullan opened the half with a three ball to push the Alvernia lead to 37-29 just 13 seconds into the half.
Widener responded with a Schenk three and a Dominic Dunn layup brought the Pride within three, 37-34.
Mitchell followed with a dunk and Cooke hit a two point jumper to push the lead to 42-36, but Schenk hit a three and a jumper to cut the deficit to 42-39.
Both teams made buckets in the next three minutes before Kenny Lewis made a layup and a free throw to bring the Pride within two, 46-44 with five minutes gone in the second half.
Dunn knocked down a three and Xavier Ernest added a layup as the Pride took its first lead since early in the first half, 49-48 and forced an Alvernia timeout.
Cooke knocked down a two point jumper and Green followed with a three to make it 53-49 Golden Wolves with 12:20 left in regulation.
Alvernia and Widener traded layups and Green knocked down a free throw as Alvernia maintained a 58-53 lead.
Dunn knocked down a step back jumper and a free throw with Schenk making a layup gave the Pride a 59-58 lead with under ten minutes to go.
The Golden Wolves would go on a 14-2 scoring run with Kelly scoring seven, Slay making a Layup and Cooke knocking down a three to give Alvernia a 72-61 lead with six minutes to play.
The Pride then went on a 7-2 run of its own, before Kelly responded, knocking down four from the foul line and making a layup to extend the lead to 80-72 with three minutes to go.
Widener fought back, Holden was fouled after making a three , he converted the and one and a layup from Ernest cut the Alvernia lead to three, 80-77.
Mullan knocked down two free throws to make it 82-77, with just under two minutes, before he made two more with 34 seconds left to make it 84-77 Golden Wolves.
The Pride responded immediately with a three from Matlack to make it 84-80 with 21 seconds left in regulation.
Cooke was fouled on the ensuing inbound and knocked down both from the line to extend the lead to six, 86-80.
The Golden Wolves defense forced a deep three from Matlack that missed and Cooke came down with the rebound and was fouled. Cooke knocked the free throws down to seal a 88-80 victory for Alvernia.
Alvernia was led by Green with 20 points, Kelly added 18 points and seven boards and Cooke tallied 15 points. Mullan added 12 and was 2-3 from three point range.
The Golden Wolves are back in action on Saturday when they host York at 3:00 PM.
