Reading, Pa. (Nov. 15, 2016) – Senior Marquis Marshall scored a game high 25 points and sophomore George Williams added 23 points and eight boards to lead Alvernia University (1-0) to an 87-68 win over Wesley College (0-1) Tuesday evening in non-conference men's basketball action at Jack McCloskey Court.
The Crusaders built a 20-plus point lead in the first half and kept a comfortable margin the rest of the way.
"We played hard," said Alvernia head coach Mike Miller, "and any time we can stay even in rebounds I'm happy with it."
The Crusaders—a minus-10 average on the boards a season ago—pulled down 36 rebounds to 37 for the Wolverines.
Marshall and Williams combined to score the first eight points of the game for the Crusaders who never trailed after taking an early 6-4 lead.
Williams knocked down a 3 to put the Crusaders up 13-7 and sophomore Jordan Hankersoncame off the bench to hit back-to-back 3s pushing the Alvernia lead to 25-9 with under eight left in the first half.
"The guys that played off the bench, Hankerson and Hedgepeth played well," said Miller. "Credit to [them]. [They] deserves it. [They have] been working hard in practice."
The Crusaders went 4-for-5 from the arc over an eight-minute span outscoring the Wolverines by 19 points to build a 32-12 lead with 5:41 left in the first. Both of Hankerson's 3s—the first two of his career—came from almost the exact same spot near the right elbow and Hedgepeth's was just about the same.
The lead was 18 points, 39-21 with five seconds left in the half, before Alex Shippen took the ball the length of the court to score right before the first half horn and set a 41-21 score at the break.
Wesley had the gap down to 14 points with 12:39 to play on a 3-pointer from Evan Anderson, but a 3-point play from Willams and a fast break dunk from Marshall fueled a 10-0 spurt for the Crusaders.
Shippen finished with 17 points and Mike Miller, Jr. reached double figures with 11. Wesley got a team-high 23 from Anderson.
Alvernia continues the season this weekend at the Gettysburg Tip-Off Tournament. The Crusaders face Wittenberg on Friday.
Alvernia 87, Wesley 68