READING, Pa. - Five players scored in double figures as the Hood College men's basketball team won its fifth straight game with a 77-66 win at Alvernia in Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth action. 

Inside the Box Score

• Mason Wang scored a team-high 15 points, while four teammates had 10 apiece. He went a perfect 8 for 8 at the free throw line. 
• Keith Claiborne Jr., Tyler Evans, Ian Eversull and Evan Wang were the other Blazers in double digits. Claiborne Jr. hit 4 of 5 field goals to match his season-high in scoring. Eversull hit 5 of 7 from the floor to reach double figures for the third time in the last four games. 
• Michael Riley was one point short of his third straight double-double with nine points and a career-high tying 12 rebounds. 
• Alvernia attempted more than half of its 57 field goals from 3-point range but Hood's perimeter defense allowed the Golden Wolves to go just 8 of 29 (28 percent). 

How it Happened

• The Blazers trailed 14-8 early before 3-pointers by Evan Wang and Riley tied the game with 11:37 left in the first half. That was the first of nine ties or lead changes over the next six minutes as the teams jockeyed for the control of the game. A 3-point play by Justin Thomas gave Alvernia a 25-24 edge and then hit a 3-pointer as the run stretched to eight points in a row and six-point lead with 4:24 to go in the half. Hood hit all five of its free throws over the rest of the half, helping the Blazers pull within 34-33 at the break. 
• Alvernia clung to its lead at the start of the second half. Kobe Butler tied the game at 37-37 and 39-39 before Hood broke through with a basket by Evans to make it 41-39 with 14:30 remaining. Butler's second game-tying field goal started a 13-5 run, resulting in a 52-44 Blazer lead after a 3-pointer by Evans with 10:23 left. 
• Hood pushed the lead to 13, 65-52, on a Claiborne Jr. layup with 4:41 to go. A Malik Green scored seven points during a 12-5 spurt by Alvernia that cut the lead to 70-64 with 1:56 on the clock. The Blazers closed the game with a 7-2 run with Mason Wang scoring Hood's final five points. 

Notes

• The Blazers shot 49 percent from the field in the game and went 6 of 16 from 3-point range (38 percent). 
• Green led all players with 23 points for Alvernia, while Thomas added 13 and Nick Youngkin finished with 10. 
• Hood went 23 for 30 at the free throw line (77 percent). The Golden Wolves hit only 14 of 22 (64 percent). 
• It was the fourth game in a row in which the Blazers outrebounded their opponent. 
• Hood, who sweeps the season series with Alvernia, improved to 12-6 on the year and 6-3 in the MAC Commonwealth. The Golden Wolves slid to 8-10 and 2-6. 

Up Next

The Blazers host Messiah on January 23 at 8 p.m.