Reading, Pa (February 26, 2025) - Janye Stanley and Robert Cottrell led #4 Alvernia University (16-10) to an eight point, 89-81 victory over #1 Albright College (17-8) Wednesday night in a MAC Commonwealth men's basketball semifinal at Albright's Bollman Center. 

The Golden Wolves took a 12 point, 39-27 lead into the halftime break and then held off a late Albright comeback in the second half to hold on for the eight point victory and secure a spot in the MAC Commonwealth title game for the second time in three years. 

The contest was the 50th meeting all time between Alvernia and Albright and the first time in history that the crosstown rivals met in a playoff setting. The victory gives the Golden Wolves the 30-20 advantage over the Lions in the series and have won 11 of the last 12 meetings over the last ten years at Albright's Bollman Center.

How it Happened

• The Golden Wolves came out flying and jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead after a Robert Cottrell driving layup got things going, Rasheem Dearry followed Cottrell up with a pull up for three. Dearry then added back to back layups to make it a nine point lead early. 
• Alvernia continued to control the first ten minutes of the game and pushed its lead to double digits, 20-9, with ten to go in the half. Janye Stanley took over the scoring duties for the Golden Wolves and tallied seven during the stretch. 
• The Golden Wolves kept their foot on the pedal over the next seven minutes and pushed their lead to as many as 16 with a 17-12 run and made it a 37-21 game with three to go in the half. Cottrell got back on the scoresheet with seven of Alvernia's 17 during the stretch and Stanley matched Cottrell with seven of his own. 
• The Lions ended the half on a 6-2 run to cut the Alvernia lead to 12, 39-27 heading into the halftime break. 
• Stanley led the way for the Golden Wolves in the first half with 14 points, Cottrell and Dearry followed with nine. 
• Alvernia shot 53% from the floor in the first half and 50% from three while holding Albright to just 32% from the floor and 0-11 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes. The Golden Wolves also forced four Albright turnovers and recorded 19 total rebounds. 
• Alvernia jumped back on the horse at the start of the second half and pushed the lead to 18 in the first two minutes of the half with an 8-2 run that made it a 47-29 game. Robert Mullan tallied five of the eight points for Alvernia and Elijah Hamilton converted an and-one opportunity. 
• The Lions slowly started to crawl their way back into the game and cut into the Alvernia lead over the next six minutes of play with a 15-7 scoring stretch that saw the Alvernia lead dwindle down to just ten, 54-44 and forced Alvernia's Mike Miller Jr. to call a timeout with 11:21 left in the second half. 
• The Golden Wolves came out of that timeout and tallied back to back buckets thanks to driving layups from Jakob Kelly and Dearry to push it back to a 14 point, 58-44, Alvernia lead with ten to play. 
• Albright and Alvernia would trade baskets back and forth over the next five minutes of play but the Golden Wolves held their ground and maintained a 13 point, 70-57 lead over the Lions. Fifth years Mullan and Kelly led the way for Alvernia during the stretch with Mullan recording six for the Golden Wolves and Kelly adding four as the game headed into the final five minutes of action. 
• Alvernia extended the lead back to 16, 77-61 with 3:35 left to go in the game after a Stanley driving layup and two buckets from Cottrell. 
• Albright then made its move and recorded a 12-5 scoring run over the next two minutes to cut the lead to single digits for the first time since the first half, 82-73. The Lions held the Golden Wolves without a field goal over those two minutes and forced two turnovers to help cut into the deficit. 
• The Lions forced two more Alvernia turnovers over the final minute of action and cut the lead to as low as eight, 87-79 but the Golden Wolves went 7-8 from the charity stripe in the final minute of action to secure the 89-81 victory over the Lions and punch their ticket to the MAC Commonwealth Championship game. 

Inside the Box Score 

• Janye Stanley led the way offensively for the Golden Wolves with a 23 point, ten rebound double-double. Stanley went 7-9 from the floor, 2-3 from beyond the arc and 7-8 at the free throw line. 
• Robert Cottrell followed with 17 points on a 7-11 performance from the floor. 
• Robert Mullan tallied 15 points for the Golden Wolves and knocked down three shots from beyond the arc and also knocked down two clutch free throws in the final minute of the game. Mullan also added three assists in a team high 35 minutes of action and has recorded ten or more points against Albright in his last seven games against the Lions. 
• Rasheem Dearry and Jakob Kelly rounded out the Golden Wolves in double figures with Dearry recording 13 points and Kelly added 12 and six rebounds. Kelly's 12 points is the ninth time he has scored in double figures against the Lions. 
• Elijah Hamilton recorded six points but grabbed a game leading 13 rebounds and added a steal in the victory. 
• The Golden Wolves shot 54% from the floor and 50% from beyond the arc against the Lions and it is just the third time all season that the Golden Wolves have shot 50% or better from both the field and beyond the arc. 
• Alvernia out rebounded Albright 37-35 including a 33-25 advantage on the defensive glass. 
• The Golden Wolves led by as much as 18 during the victory and once they grabbed the lead in the first nine seconds they never gave it up, leading for 39:51 of the 40 total minutes. 

Up Next

• The Golden Wolves are back in action on Saturday when they head to York College of Pennsylvania to take on the Spartans in the MAC Commonwealth Championship game at 3:00 PM. 
• Alvernia punches its ticket to its sixth MAC Commonwealth title game and its 16th conference championship game in the program's history.