READING, Pa. - The Hood College men's basketball team held off a late Alvernia rally for an 87-86 win on the road in Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth play. 

Inside the Box Score

• Garrison Linton (New Market, Md./Oakdale) scored a career-high 21 points, hitting 8-of-12 field goals with a pair of 3-pointers. The sophomore added six rebounds.
• Three more Blazers reached double figures. Trumaine Strickland (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) scored 19 points, going 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and finishing 6-for-10 overall. 
• Christopher Smalls (Washington, D.C./St. Andrew's Episcopal) recorded 16 points and seven boards. 
• Michael Wallace (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum School) came off the bench for 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds. 

How it Happened

• After leading 44-39 at halftime, Hood appeared to take control with a 16-2 run to open the second half. Smalls had seven points in the surge as the Blazers went ahead 60-41, holding the Golden Wolves to just 1-of-7 shooting over the opening five minutes. 
• Robert Mullan scored the game's next five points, igniting a 12-2 run that brought Alvernia within 62-53 with 12:42 to go. 
• Hood made its next three field goals and a pair of free throws by Strickland pushed the Blazers' edge back to 71-56 just 1:30 later. 
• The Golden Wolves pulled within six twice on 3-pointers by Malik Green, but each time Strickland answered from behind the arc for Hood, including a 3-pointer that made it 83-74 with 3:28 left in the game. 
• A 3-pointer by Jalil Schenck and a bucket by Jakob Kelly shrank the Alvernia deficit to 83-79 with 2:13 to go. 
• After two free throws by Linton and another field goal by Kelly, Ryan Hollwedel (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) stretched the lead back to six, 87-81, with 30 seconds to go. 
• The Golden Wolves had a final charge left despite time running out. Green sank a 3-pointer at the 22-second mark, shaving Hood's lead to three. 
• The Blazers started the game by making 19 consecutive free throws but finally missed on the front end of a 1-and-1 with 11 seconds left. Green grabbed the rebound. After a Golden Wolves' timeout, Hood had a foul to give and used it to set up another inbounds play for Alvernia. Green took a 3-pointer and missed but got his own rebound and scored on a put back as time expired. 

For the Opponent

• Green had a monster game for the Golden Wolves with 42 points on 14-for-24 shooting with eight 3-pointers. 
• Kelly filled up the box score with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots. 
• Mullan added 10 points. 

Analysis

• Hood's 19-of-20 mark at the free throw line tied for the second-best percentage in program history (95 percent). 
• The Blazers shot 48 percent in the game, including 8-for-22 from 3-point range. Alvernia, aside from Green's big day, struggled from the floor and shot just 41 percent. The rest of the Golden Wolves were just 14-of-49 shooting.

Notes

• The win was Hood's second in a row and improved the Blazers to 9-7 overall and 3-4 in the MAC Commonwealth. 
• Alvernia slid to 12-4 and 6-2. 

Up Next
Hood hosts York (Pa.) on Wednesday, January 18 at the Ronald J. Volpe Athletic Center.