Reading, Pa (January 15, 2024) - Elijah Hamilton and Jakob Kelly led Alvernia University (10-4, 2-1) to a 25 point, 81-56 victory over Messiah University (1-13, 0-3) Wednesday evening in MAC Commonwealth men's basketball action on Alvernia's Jack McCloskey Court. 

The Golden Wolves held a 46-24 lead heading into the halftime break with Hamilton leading the way with 17 points. The Golden Wolves only outscored the Falcons 35-32 in the second half but it was enough to secure the 81-56 victory over the Falcons. 

How it Happened

• Both teams were slow to start with the game locked at 6-6 through the first five minutes of action. But, a pull-up jumper from Jakob Kelly opened things up for Alvernia and ignited a 22-5 run for Alvernia over the next nine minutes to give Alvernia the 28-11 lead with five and a half minutes to play in the opening half. Elijah Hamilton led Alvernia with 11 points during the run, and Kelly added seven. The Golden Wolves held Messiah to 1-for-10 shooting during the run.
• Messiah put up a quick five points across its next two possessions to put a small dent in Alvernia's lead, 28-15. But, an Elijah Hamilton layup and a Jacob Stoudt 3-pointer gave Alvernia back a 16 point lead, 33-17, with four minutes to play in the half.
• The Golden Wolves led by 14, 35-21, with just over two minutes remaining in the half, but Alvernia did not let up to close out the opening frame. Alvernia closed out the final two minutes on an 11-3 run, shooting 4-for-4. The Golden Wolves took a 46-24 lead into the half.
• Stoudt sparked an 11-7 Alvernia run in the first five minutes of the second half that extended the lead to 26, 57-31. Stoudt knocked down a turnaround jumper to start the half and then added a three pointer. Kelly, Hamilton and Cottrell all recorded a bucket during the stretch. 
• The Golden Wolves and the Falcons traded buckets back and forth for the next ten minutes of the game before the Falcons cut the lead to 19, 73-54 with five to go in the game after a 23-16 stretch. Kelly led with nine during the stretch and knocked down three from beyond the arc. 
• Alvernia then closed out the game on a strong note, tallying an 8-2 scoring run to push the lead back to above 20 and secured the 81-56 victory over the Falcons. 

Inside the Box Score

• Elijah Hamilton led the way with a game high 21 points on an 8-12 performance from the floor. He knocked down one three and went 4-4 from the charity stripe. Hamilton also added eight boards, one assist and one block. 
• Jakob Kelly recorded his third double-double of the season with a 19 point, 12 rebound performance. Kelly knocked down five three pointers, added four assists, one block and one assist. 
• Jacob Stoudt tallied eight points with two threes, Robert Cottrell also tallied eight and had two assists and Robert Mullan recorded seven points, eight rebounds and four assists. 
• The Golden Wolves shot just under 40% from the floor, 42% from beyond the arc and notched a 90.5% performance from the charity stripe. The Golden Wolves also outrebounded the Falcons 53-37 including a 43-31 advantage on the defensive glass. 
• Alvernia held Messiah to just 23 seconds with the lead. 

Up Next 

• The Golden Wolves are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Widener to take on the Pride at 3:00 PM.