BOX SCORE

Reading, Pa. (Mar. 9, 2013) – St. Mary's College (26-3) hit nine of its final 11 shots from the floor in a 72-66 win over Alvernia University (24-5) Saturday evening in second round action of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championships at Jack McCloskey Court.

The Seahawks hit 59 percent from the floor and 50 percent overall and will advance to the sweet 16 where it will face Morrisville State—a 66-61 winner over Rhode Island College.

"Down the stretch it comes down to who makes shots," said Alvernia head coach Mike Miller after the loss.  "You gotta give them credit.  They made the shots."

The Crusaders hit eight of their final 19 from the floor.

Alvernia pushed ahead by four points, 49-45 with 8:11 to play, on a dunk from Terrance Bridgers (Drexel Hill, Pa./Upper Darby) and a layup from Brian Parker (Chichester, Pa./Chichester), but St. Mary's answered with a 3-point play from Brendan McFall and a 3 from Kyle Wise that knotted the game at 53-all.

Over the next 3-plus minutes the Seahawks hit a pair of free throws and went 3-for-4 from the floor while the Crusaders suffered through an 0-for-5 stretch.  The run left the guests with a 62-54 lead with three minutes to play.

Kahlil Bennett (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) hit two 3s in the final 96 seconds, but the Seahawks just continued to score getting six points from Nick LaGuerre in the last minute to keep the Crusaders at bay.

"They're a tough out," said Miller of St. Mary's.  "They're a tough out because of their bench.  They don't lose anything and if fact sometimes they gain when they go to the bench."

The St. Mary's bench outscored Alvernia 32-3 Saturday night.  A team-high 18 of those points came from Wise, a junior reserve.

"Kyle Wise stepped up big time," continued Miller, "and some of them were big 3s."

Wise—who entered the game averaging less than four points per game and hitting just 8-of-19 3s on the season—scored 15 of his 18 in the first half and knocked down 3-of-4 attempts from behind the arc.

Parker led the way with 28 points for the Crusaders—he scored 20 or more in all four postseason games for the Crusaders including a career-high 30 in the Commonwealth Title game.  Bennett finished with 15 points and Bridgers scored 14 points to go with five assists and six steals.


Alvernia jumped out to an early lead and built it up to 11 points, 17-6 on a Parker jumper seven minutes into the game.  Wise then scored five for the Seahawks during a 9-0 spurt that cut the gap to just two.  The Seahawks took their first lead on a Wise 3 at 4:48, but Alvernia came back with back-to-back 3s from Bridgers and Charles Cooper (Parkesburg, Pa./Octorara) for a 5-point lead.

The teams exchanged short spurts over the last three minutes of the first half and Bennett hit 1-of-2 free throws to set the 31-all score at the break.

St. Mary's went ahead by as many as four points early in the second half and the Bennett's layup at 9:20 forged the 45-all tie—the fifth of the second half.

"It was a really hard-fought game between two teams, neither of whom wanted to give up.l" said St. Mary's head coach Chris Harney.  "I've got all the respect in the world for Alvernia, their players and their coaches.  Before the game I felt good about the game either way.  As I told [Coach Miller] no matter what happens today this game isn't going to define either of our seasons.  They were a worthy opponent and just I'm happy that we're moving on."

The season continues for the Seahawks with a chance at reaching the elite eight, which will be in Salem, Virginia, March 22-23.  The two Division III finalists will square off Sunday, April 7, in Atlanta as part of the Division I Final Four weekend.

The season ends for the Crusaders at 24-5—the second straight 20-win season and fourth overall for Coach Miller.  The Crusaders—who were picked to finish fifth in the Commonwealth Conference--won the league title for the second time in the last three years and made their eighth NCAA appearance.

St. Mary's 72, Alvernia 66