Reading, Pa. (January 7, 2026)  - Alvernia University (7-4, 1-0) completed the comeback victory over Widener University (3-9, 0-1), 77-75, Wednesday night in a MAC Commonwealth men's basketball clash on Alvernia's Jack McCloskey Court. 

The matchup proved to be a classic Alvernia/Widener clash with the Pride holding as much as a 14 point lead over the Golden Wolves but Alvernia would weather the storm and worked its way back to secure the 77-75 victory over the Pride. 

The Pride held a five point, 35-30 lead after the first 20 minutes of action and stretched that lead to as much as 13, 62-49, with under ten to play in the game. The Golden Wolves would then end the game on a 28-13 scoring run, including nine from Rasheem Dearry and eight from Robert Cottrell, over the final nine minutes of action en route to the two point victory. 

How it Happened 

• The Pride and the Golden Wolves battled back and forth over the first five minutes before the Pride jumped out ahead to a 15-9 lead with 14:30 to play in the first half. Widener would continue to control the pace of the game and pushed it lead to 13, 28-15, after a 13-6 scoring stretch over the next five minutes. 
• Points were hard to come by over the next five minutes as the Golden Wolves tallied just four points and the Pride posted two as Widener held a 30-19 advantage with under five to play in the first half. 
• The Golden Wolves began to chip away at the lead in the final five minutes of the half and ended the half on an 11-5 scoring run that brought them back within five, 35-30, heading into the halftime break. 
• Robert Cottrell led the Golden Wolves at the half with 11 points, Mason Jones and Rasheem Dearry both followed with six apiece and Elijah Hamilton and Janye Stanley rounded out the scorers with five and two points respectively. 
• The Golden Wolves came out of the break and pulled within three thanks to a Stanley jumper to make it 35-32 but the Pride responded with seven straight points to push it back to a ten point, 42-32 lead with 17:45 to go in the game. 
• Alvernia bounced back with four straight free throws by Cottrell and then a three ball by Stanley to cut the deficit to three, 42-39. 
• The Pride then grabbed a hold of the game over the next six minutes and recorded a 20-10 scoring run that pushed Widener lead to 13, 62-49, with 9:38 to play. 
• The Golden Wolves responded immediately with a 12-0 scoring stretch to pull within two, 62-61. Cottrell tallied four during the stretch and Stanley added three for Alvernia but Austin Mbuyi converted an and one to bring the Golden Wolves within one with 6:30 to go in the half. 
• After a Widener missed jumper the Golden Wolves came down the court and Dearry knocked down a big time three to give the Golden Wolves the 64-62 lead with six minutes to play. The lead was the first for Alvernia since 17:49 in the first half when the Golden Wolves led 4-3. 
• The Golden Wolves knocked down seven shots from the charity stripe over the next three minutes and one from the floor to push their lead to five, 73-68, with 2:39 to go in the contest. 
• The Pride bounced back with two free throws of their own but the Golden Wolves responded with a Cottrell driving layup to make it a five point, 75-70 lead. 
• Widener's Jacob Aryee converted an and one with four seconds to go in the contest to pull the Pride within one, 76-75, but Alvernia sealed the game with a Janye Stanley free throw to secure the 77-75 victory over the Pride. 

Inside the Box Score

• Robert Cottrell led all scorers with 25 points on a 7-11 shooting performance from the floor and 11-14 from the charity stripe. Cottrell also added five rebounds, one assist and one steal. 
• Rasheem Dearry followed with 18 points and two three pointers. Dearry also knocked down four free throws, grabbed three rebounds, two assists and one block. 
• Both Janye Stanley and Elijah Hamilton recorded double-doubles in the victory with Stanley posting 13 points and ten rebounds while also recording three assists. Hamilton followed with an 11 point, ten rebound performance and also recorded two steals and one block. 
• Austin Mbuyi recorded three points and two big steals late in the game in ten minutes of action and Mason Jones recorded seven points and two rebounds in 20 minutes of play. 
• The victory over the Pride marks the second in a row for the Golden Wolves after they had lost seven of the previous eight matchups against the Pride. 

Up Next 

• The Golden Wolves are back in action on Saturday when they host Stevenson in a MAC Commonwealth matchup on Jack McCloskey Court at 5:00 PM.