Reading, Pa (December 18, 2023) - Alvernia University (6-3) held a three point lead at the half but Penn State Harrisburg outscored the Golden Wolves 43-35 in the second half en route to a 76-71 victory over Alvernia in a non-conference men's basketball matchup Monday night at Alvernia's Jack McCloskey Court. 

The Golden Wolves were up 36-33 after the first 20 minutes of basketball, the Lions regained the lead shortly into the second half and ended the game on a 10-1 scoring run to secure the five point, 71-76 victory.

Alvernia fell to 6-3 on the night with the loss and PSU Harrisburg improved to 10-2. 

How it Happened 

• PSU Harrisburg jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the first two and a half minutes but three pointers from Nigel Cooke and Jakob Kelly brought the Golden Wolves within one, 7-6 with just over three minutes gone in the first half.
• The Golden Wolves and the Lions traded buckets back and forth over the next six minutes with Alvernia edging a slight, 13-11 run to take the 19-18 lead. Cooke led the way with five points during the run, Jacob Stoudt knocked down a three ball and Malik Slay and Jameel Burton Jr. both added two a piece. 
• Alvernia continued to score the basketball as it extended its lead to seven just over a minute later when Cooke and Stoudt both hit threes and Kyle Gordon made a layup to make it a 27-20 game with under ten to go in the half. 
• The Lions then went on a scoring run of their own, scoring eight of the next ten points but the Golden Wolves maintained a one point, 29-28 advantage with under six minutes to play. Gordon put down an alley-oop from Robert Mullan as Alvernia's only points of the run. 
• Alvernia finished the final five minutes of the half out with a 7-5 run and took a 36-33 lead going into the half thanks to a three ball from Jalil Schenck in the final minute of the half. 
• PSU Harrisburg came out of the break and ripped off an 11-4 run in the first four minutes of the second half to regain the lead, 44-40. Kelly and Alex Cercado are the only Golden Wolves to record buckets during the run. 
• The Golden Wolves responded right away with a scoring run of their own, tallying a 12-4 scoring run over the next four minutes to swing the lead back in their favor, 52-48 with 12 to go in the game. Schenck scored five, Cercado knocked down a three and both Cooke and Gordon tallied two for Alvernia. 
• Harrisburg bounced back and took a two point, 54-52 lead with just over ten minutes to go in the half but Cercado knocked down two from the charity stripe to knot the ballgame at 54 with nine to go. 
• Alvernia continued to score the basketball and grabbed a five point, 66-61 lead after a 12-7 run over the next four minutes. 
• The Lions knocked down two free throws and a three ball to tie the game at 66 with four minutes left in the game. 
• The Golden Wolves pushed their lead back to four after a Cercado knocked down a three to make it a 70-66 ballgame with just under three remaining. 
• The Lions then responded by scoring ten of the next 11 points of the game to secure the five point, 76-71 victory. 

Inside the Box Score 

• Nigel Cooke led the Golden Wolves in scoring with 19 points, he shot 54.5% from the floor (6-11) and knocked down three, three pointers. Cooke also grabbed four rebounds and tallied three steals and two assists. 
• Jakob Kelly recorded his second straight double double with ten points and ten rebounds and added a team high six steals. Alex Cercado also scored ten points and added two assists. 
• Kyle Gordon recorded nine points and nine rebounds, Jalil Schenck and Jacob Stoudt both scored eight and Robert Mullan tallied three points and added two assists. 

Off Note

• This was the first matchup between Alvernia and Penn State Harrisburg since the 1993 season and is the Lions' first win over the Golden Wolves since an 82-76 victory over Alvernia in the 1986-87 season. 
• Jakob Kelly's six steals matches a season high and a team high for the Golden Wolves. Kelly recorded six steals against Juniata. 
• Nigel Cooke's 19 ties his season high in points, Cooke recorded 19 against Gwynedd Mercy. 

Up Next

• The Golden Wolves take a 6-3 record into the holiday break and are back in action on Friday, December 29th when they take on Penn State Behrend at Moravian in game one of the Steel Club Classic. Tip-off is set for 6:30 PM. 
• Behrend will come into the game with a 6-3 record as well and will be coming off 20 days of rest and a 29 point, 88-59 victory over Mt. Aloysius on December 9th.