Gallatin, Tenn (December 19, 2024) - Alvernia University (7-2) held a ten point lead at the half and held off Spalding University (5-3) 63-56, in a non-conference men's basketball matchup Thursday afternoon at Welch College. 

The Golden Wolves kicked off their 2024 Nashville trip behind a 19 point, 15 rebound double-double from Jakob Kelly and a 12 point, ten rebound double-double from Elijah Hamilton en route to the seven point victory. 

How it Happened

• Alvernia and Spalding both came out of the gate slow, with the Golden Wolves holding a four point, 7-3 advantage over the Golden Eagles in the first seven minutes of the first half. Hamilton recorded five of the seven points and Kelly added the other two. 
• Alvernia then continued to hold the lead, pushing it to a 15-8 lead thanks to buckets from Kareem Diaz, Robert Mullan, and Mickeel Allen the Golden Wolves held the seven point lead with under nine to go in the half. 
• Spalding then flipped the momentum over the next five minutes and recorded a 10-6 scoring run that pulled the Eagles within three, 21-18 with under four minutes to go in the first half. 
• The Golden Wolves bounced back and tallied eight of the final nine points of the first half to take a ten point, 29-19 lead at the half. 
• Alvernia came out of the half and jumped right back on the scoring train and tallied a 14-7 run in the first three minutes of the second half and grabbed its biggest lead of the night, a 17 point, 43-26 lead. Hamilton led the way with five points during the run, Kelly added four and Jacob Stoudt knocked down a three ball as well. 
• The Golden Wolves continued to hold the lead at 17 with just under 12 to play in the game thanks to buckets from Kelly and Mullan and Robert Cottrell tallied three for Alvernia during the stretch. Golden Wolves lead 50-33. 
• Spalding then responded with a 14-5 scoring run over the next seven minutes that saw them cut the lead back to single digits, 55-47 with five minutes to go in the contest. 
• Cottrell then recorded back to back layups for the Golden Wolves to halt the Spalding scoring run and push the lead back to double digits, 59-47. 
• The Eagles would end the game on a 9-4 scoring run but it was not enough as the Golden Wolves held on to secure the 63-56 victory over the Eagles. 

Inside the Box Score 

• Jakob Kelly led the way with 19 points and a career high 15 rebounds. Kelly went 6-10 from the floor and 7-9 from the charity stripe while adding one block and three assists. 
• Elijah Hamilton also recorded a double-double with 12 points and ten rebounds. Hamilton also recorded two blocks and was 4-9 from the floor. 
• Robert Cottrell rounded out the Golden Wolves in double figures with a ten point, five rebound performance and also added a team high three steals and also had two assists. 
• The Golden Wolves shot 48% from the floor and 36% from three point range. They recorded 32 of their 63 points in the paint and held the lead for 34 of the 40 minutes. 

Up Next 

• The Golden Wolves are back in action tomorrow for their second game of the Nashville trip. Alvernia takes on Ohio Wesleyan at 12:00 PM EST/11:00 AM CST.