Crusaders get defensive, hold McDaniel to season-low 44 points in 63-44 victory

READING, Pa. - Seth Cornell tallied 20 points to lead Alvernia to a 63-44 victory over McDaniel in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday.

Miguel Jones (Baltimore, Md./North County) paced the Green Terror (2-2) with 11 points while Louis Sarris-Grau (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) and Woody Butler (Smithsburg, Md./Middletown) added 10 and eight points, respectively.

Tad Gillis and Nick Rivera also hit double figures for the Crusaders (5-0) with 11 points apiece.

Behind seven points from Cornell, Alvernia jumped out to a 9-2 lead over the game's first 2 minutes, 40 seconds to force a McDaniel timeout.

With 14:36 remaining in the first half, the Crusaders extended the lead to 11-2.

Sarris-Grau and Gillis traded 3-pointers over the next 33 seconds before two Jones hit a pair of triples to close the deficit to 14-11 with 11:56 on the clock.

A meandering 15-4 run stretched the hosts lead to as many as 14 with 2:43 remaining in the first half before two Butler layups cut the deficit to 29-19 at the intermission.

After a Butler layup made a layup to make it a 35-25 game with 15:24 to play, Brian Nerney converted a basket to spark a 10-0 run over a 3-minute, 10-second span that stretched the lead to 45-25 with 11:47 on the clock.

An 8-2 spurt closed the McDaniel deficit to 47-33 with 8:20 on the clock but six quick points stretched the lead back to 20 just 45 seconds later.

Butler added a team-high five rebounds for the Green Terror, who was outrebounded 31-25 in the contest.

McDaniel returns to action in the Centennial Conference opener at Dickinson on Wednesday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

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