READING, Pa. - The Hood College men's basketball team picked up an 87-78 win at Alvernia in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth play to wrap up the regular season. 

With the win, Hood heads to the conference tournament with a 17-6 record, including 14-2 in the MAC Commonwealth, the best conference record in program history. The conference record matches that of Eastern and the two teams will share the regular season championship. The conference uses tiebreakers only to determine seeding. 

Inside the Box Score

• Five players reached double figures for the Blazers.
• Mason Wang led the way with 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting. The senior added eight rebounds. 
• Evan Wang finished with 14 points and seven boards. 
• Christopher Smalls scored 11 points. 
• Hood received strong contributions from its supporting cast, which outscored Alvernia's bench 30-9. Trumaine Strickland scored a dozen points on 5-of-9 shooting with five rebounds. Soren Almquist finished with 11 points, hitting 3-for-6 from 3-point range, and tied Mason Wang for the team-high with eight rebounds. 

How it Happened

• There were eight lead changes and two ties in the opening five minutes and 47 seconds, the last two at the beginning of an 11-2 run by the Blazers. A layup by Wang capped the run, giving Hood a 26-19 lead with 9:46 to go in the half. 
• Keon Taylor slowed the Blazers' momentum with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer that cut Hood's lead to 26-24 barely a minute later. 
• From there, Hood closed the half with a 17-9 run as seven different players scored. Wang hit a pair of foul shots with 1:28 left to put the Blazers ahead by 10 but Hood needed a bucket by Lual Chol to maintain that margin at halftime, 43-33. 
• Baskets by Smalls and Bryce Butler stretched the lead to 47-33 with 17:36 left in the game.
• Alvernia later used a 9-0 run to pull within 52-48 on after a basket by Steve Pierce at 14:16. The two teams jockeyed for position over the next 2 1/2 minutes as the Blazers clung to a 60-54 lead after the Golden Wolves' Jakob Kelly scored with 11:58 left. 
• Chol hit a 3-pointer to light a 10-0 run for Hood as the lead swelled to 16 points after a basket by Wang made it 70-54 at 9:36. 
• The runs continued as Alvernia followed up with a 15-5 run and trailed only 75-69 with 6:09 to go after a Malik Green 3.  
• Hood kept the Golden Wolves from getting any closer until a successful and-one by Jacob Stoudt made it 83-78 with 28 seconds remaining. Alvernia was forced to foul, however, and Evan Wang and Mason Wang each hit pairs of free throws in the final 16 seconds to ice the game. 

Analysis

• Hood had an uncharacteristically off night from behind the 3-point arc, connecting on just 10-of-34 (29 percent), but Alvernia went only 11-for-36 (31 percent). 
• The Blazers held a 48-39 rebounding advantage. 
• Both teams committed just 12 turnovers in the contest. 
• Hood held a 38-26 edge in points in the paint. 

For the Opponent

• Walker hit 7-for-14 from the field, including five 3-pointers, to score a game-high 22 points for Alvernia. 
• Taylor overcame a 5-of-18 day shooting to score 17 points. Both he and Walker dished out five assists. 
• Kelly had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Green matched his 15 points. 

Notes

• Eastern defeated York (Pa.) 84-75 to wrap up the top seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Championships. Both Hood and the Eagles finish the regular season 14-2 in the conference, but Eastern took the season series between the teams. 
• Alvernia will be the third-seed with a record of 18-5 overall and 11-4 in MAC Commonwealth games. 

Up Next 
Hood will host a MAC Commonwealth Quarterfinal against Albright on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.