Reading, Pa (February 12, 2025) - Alvernia University (14-8, 6-5) first year Robert Cottrell recorded a career high 23 points to power the Golden Wolves to a 94-78 victory over Eastern University (9-13, 2-9) Wednesday night in a MAC Commonwealth men's basketball clash on Alvernia's Jack McCloskey Court. 

The Golden Wolves held a five point, 47-42 lead over the Eagles heading into the halftime break and then outscored Eastern 47-36 in the second half en route to the 16 point victory. 

The victory secures the series sweep for the Golden Wolves over the Eagles after Alvernia posted a 75-71 victory over Eastern back in January. The sweep for the Golden Wolves is the first time Alvernia has recorded the season sweep since Eastern joined the MAC Commonwealth back in 2020-2021. 

How it Happened

• The Eagles opened up the game with a 3-pointer from Connor Fleet on their first possession, and Alvernia got on the board with a driving layup from Robert Mullan. But, the Eagles had the hot hand early and led 16-8 through the first six minutes. 
• Alvernia called a timeout for the early regrouping, but Eastern came out of the brief break and scored on a Zubair Lee dunk off an Arkese Claiborne steal to give Eastern the 10 point lead, 18-8.
• Alvernia got on track with back-to-back points from Elijah Hamilton on a layup and a dunk to spark an 11-0 run for Alvernia. The Golden Wolves took the lead off the run, 19-18, on a Robert Cottrell layup off of a Jakob Kelly steal.
• The back-and-forth ensued from there with neither team able to gain much ground on each other for the remainder of the half.
• Alvernia extended its lead up to four, 34-30, on a step back jumper from Elijah Hamilton with 5:23 to play, but the Eagles closed it back down and tied it at 37-37 with four minutes to play. Alvernia took its largest lead of the half on a 3-pointer from Robert Mullan to close out the half and give Alvernia the 47-42 lead going into the break.
• The Golden Wolves shot an impressive 57.6% from the floor in the first half and went 5-6 from the charity stripe. Hamilton led the way offensively for Alvernia with 15 in the first half, Cottrell followed with ten. 
• Alvernia came out of the half firing and recorded a 10-4 scoring run over the first five minutes of the half to push the lead to double digits, 57-46. Cottrell recorded five during the run including an and one after a driving layup to keep the momentum with the Golden Wolves. 
• The Golden Wolves kept things going over the next seven minutes after a Kelly jumper sparked another run for Alvernia, this one a 13-5 run to push the lead to 19, 70-51 with nine to go in the half. The 19 point lead was the largest for the Golden Wolves in the game to that point and was highlighted by Mullan with five, Kelly with five and Cottrell added two. 
• Eastern then responded with a run of its own, a 9-4 run that pulled the Eagles within 14, 74-60 with just under six minutes to go. 
• The Golden Wolves bounced right back on the next possession when an Elijah Hamilton pull up jumper and a Rasheem Dearry and one from beyond the arc made it a 80-62 ballgame with five to play. 
• Alvernia pushed the lead to 20, 86-66 with three minutes to play and Eastern ended the game on a 12-8 scoring run but it was not enough as the Golden Wolves secured the 16 point, 94-78 victory over the Eagles. 

Inside the Box Score

• Robert Cottrell led the way with 23 points and added seven assists and four boards. Cottrell also went 6-7 from the charity stripe. 
• Elijah Hamilton followed with 18 points and also grabbed a team high nine rebounds and tallied two blocks and a steal. 
• Robert Mullan recorded a season high 17 points on a 6-9 performance from the floor and also went 2-3 from beyond the arc. Mullan also added four rebounds, two assists and one steal. 
• Rasheem Dearry rounded out the Golden Wolves in double figures with 14 points off a 5-8 performance from the floor and also grabbed four rebounds. 
• Alvernia's 94 points is the second most they have scored this season behind a 101 point performance against Penn State Berks earlier in the season. 
• The Golden Wolves also shot 55.6% from the floor (35-63) in the victory, which was the third best shooting percentage from the floor all season. The Golden Wolves also grabbed 36 rebounds and held the lead for just over 72% of the contest. 

Up Next

• The Golden Wolves are back in action on Saturday when they host Widener in a MAC Commonwealth doubleheader with the women's team. The women's game will tip off at 1:00 PM with the men slated to tip off at 3:00 PM. Both Alvernia Men's and Women's basketball will honor its 2025 senior classes before the start of each game.