BOX SCORE
Gwynedd Valley, Pa. (Mar. 5, 2008) – Junior forward
Tyrone Bradley (Chester, Pa./Chester) was a dominant force snaring a quarter of #5 Alvernia College’s 51 misses and recording a monster double-double with 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in a 70-68 loss at fourth-seeded Gwynedd-Mercy Wednesday evening in quarterfinal action of the Eastern College Athletic Conference’s South Region Men’s Basketball Championships at the Griffin Complex.
Bradley scored a layup in the paint with 80 second to play to cut the Griffins (20-9) lead to one, 64-63 and Gwynedd-Mercy sophomore
Matt Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa./Strawberry Mansion) hit his only 3 of the night to push the lead to four with 45 seconds to play.
Alvernia sophomore
Matt King (Phoenixville, Pa./St. Pius X) answered with a 3 at the other end and Johnson sank two free throws to build the lead back to three. Bradley grabbed his 12th and final offensive board after a King missed 3 and hit two free throws to pull Alvernia back within one.
The Griffins got one free throw from
Haven Wroten (Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter) and Alvernia guard
Charlie Hughes (Kenhorst, Pa./Governor Mifflin) grabbed the carom on the second. He dribbled up the left side and let fly with a contested 3 that bounced off to give GMC the two-point win.
GMC scored 12 points from the free throw line in both halves finishing 24-for-34 from the stripe. Neither team shot well from the floor with Gwynedd-Mercy connecting on 4-of-17 from long range and Alvernia hitting just 5-of-24 3s.
After Alvernia took its first lead of the game, 10-8 on a
David Washington (Durham, N.C./Northern Durham) 3, the Crusaders held the lead for most of the remainder of the half pushing it to as many as eight on three different occasions, the last a 25-17 lead with 5:14 left in the half.
Wroten trimmed that lead to six with two free throws and Alvernia junior
Terrence Shawell (Pottstown, Pa./Pottstown) picked up his third foul of the game on a technical foul at the 4:16 mark. Shawell finished the game with 15 points in just 20 minutes before fouling out with six minutes to play.
GMC freshman
Jon Crabtree (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) hit both technical free throws and Wroten followed with another free throw to cut the lead to three. Bradley stopped the 5-0 streak of free throws with one of his own and after and exchange of buckets junior
Tim McCauley (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) hit a 3 to cut Alvernia’s lead to one, 28-27.
Wroten hit a free throw a minute later to force the first tie of the night at 30-all and the only other scoring in the final two minutes of the frame was an Alvernia layup and one more GMC free throw giving the Crusaders the 32-31 lead at the break.
GMC took the lead out of the break and pushed it to four with four minutes gone in the second half. Alvernia cut it to one point on two occasions and built its own five point lead with an 8-0 run that left the guests up 47-42 with 12 minutes to play. Washington and Bradley both scored four points during the stretch.
The lead changed hands 11 times in the next eight minutes and Washington’s layup with 3:49 to play forged the fifth and final tie of the night at 60-60. Johnson’s layup broke the tie and Bradley’s free throw pulled Alvernia within one. GMC answered with a layup for a three point lead before Bradley’s layup with 80 ticks left.
King, Shawell, and Washington all finished with 15 points while the Griffins place four players in double figures led by
Ryan McCarty (Cape May Court House, N.J./Middle Twp.) and McCauley at a dozen apiece. Wroten and Johnson both finished with 11.
Alvernia’s season is over at 16-11 while Gwynedd-Mercy will travel to Albright College for the semifinals of the ECAC South Tournament.
#4 Gwynedd-Mercy 70, #5 Alvernia 68