St. Davids, Pa (January 22, 2025) - Alvernia University (11-5, 3-2) fended off a late second half comeback by Eastern University (8-8, 1-4) to secure a 75-71 victory over the Eagles in a MAC Commonwealth men's basketball clash at Eastern. 

The Eagles were up by four at the half, 37-33 but the Golden Wolves outscored the Eagles 42-34 in the second half to secure the victory. Eastern pulled within one, 67-66 with two minutes to play in the contest but the Golden Wolves held the Eagles off and ended the game on an 8-5 run to secure the 75-71 victory and hand Eastern its third straight loss in the Commonwealth. 

How it Happened

• Eastern grabbed the lead early in the first half after jumping out to a 9-3 advantage but an Elijah Hamilton layup sparked a 17-7 Alvernia run that swung the lead in favor of the Golden Wolves, 20-16 with under ten to play in the half. 
• The Eagles flipped the script and went on their own scoring run, a 11-2 run over the next four minutes of play to regain the lead, 27-22 with four minutes to go in the first half. 
• A Robert Mullan three pointer pulled the Golden Wolves within two, 27-25, and started an 11-5 scoring run to give Alvernia the one point lead, 33-32 with under two minutes to go in the half. 
• Eastern drilled a three pointer and a layup in the final minute to take the four point, 37-33 lead over the Golden Wolves at the half. 
• Both Alvernia and Eastern shot 35% from the floor in the first half and Eastern outrebounded Alvernia 27-19. Mullan led Alvernia with 11 points, Jakob Kelly added nine and Rasheem Dearry tallied four. 
• The Golden Wolves came out of the halftime break and ripped off a 14-6 scoring run over the first six minutes of the second half to take a four point, 47-43 advantage over the Eagles. 
• Alvernia continued to push its lead over the Eagles over the next three minutes with an 11-5 scoring run that made it a ten point, 58-48 game with under ten to go in the contest. 
• Eastern then flipped the script and gained all the momentum and went on a 17-9 scoring run over the next six minutes to pull the Eagles within two, 67-65 with 3:33 left in the game. 
• The Eagles pulled within one with two minutes to go thanks to a three throw, 67-66, but the Golden Wolves ended the game on an 8-5 run to help survive the late comeback from the Eagles and secure the 75-71 victory over Eastern. 

Inside the Box Score 

• Jakob Kelly led all scorers with 18 points in 34 minutes. Kelly added seven rebounds, a team high five assists and one steal. 
• Robert Mullan followed with 16 points with a 5-9 showing from the floor and knocked down four buckets from beyond the arc. Mullan also grabbed a team high nine rebounds and added two assists. 
• Jacob Stoudt and Elijah Hamilton rounded out the Golden Wolves in double figures with Stoudt tallying 12 points off of four three pointers and Hamilton added 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. 
• The Golden Wolves shot 40% from the floor and 34% from beyond the arc. Alvernia missed just two free throws (14-16) and went 6-7 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes of action. 

Up Next 

• The Golden Wolves are back in action on Saturday when they host Stevenson for a MAC Commonwealth doubleheader with the women's team. The women's game is set to tip off at 1:00 PM with the men slated to start at 3:00 PM.