Box Score

Brad Merriweather added 11 points and seven rebounds while Tillman Sims chipped in with 10 points and a team-high eight boards as the Crusaders (8-3) snapped a five-game losing streak against the Bullets (6-8) while bouncing back from a 40-point loss to Franklin & Marshall two nights earlier.

Gettysburg center David Glaser (West Chester, PA/Malvern Prep) enjoyed another strong game against Alvernia, scoring a team-high 26 points on 11-for-16 shooting, his highest total since a 26-point effort against Lincoln on Dec. 4. Glaser tallied a season-high 22 points against the Crusaders during his freshman campaign in 2001-02. He also led the squad with eight rebounds.

Erik Fromm (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) also reached double figures for the Bullets, scoring a career-high 10 points in the second half to go with five boards.

Thanks to 54-percent shooting and a perfect 10-for-10 showing from the free-throw line, Alvernia built a 13-point lead in the first half and didn't look back.

Sims threw down an alley-oop dunk to put the Crusaders ahead for good at 15-14 with 12:45 left in the half, then followed a 3-pointer from Byu-Deen Twyman with a wing jumper to stretch the lead to 26-18.

A trey from Chris Grandieri (Media, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) and a driving baseline layup by Ryan Page (Silver Spring, MD/St. John's College [DC]) cut the deficit to 26-23 with 3:56 remaining before the break, but Alvernia answered with a 14-1 run over the next 3 minutes, 21 seconds to take charge.

Merriweather scored on a layup, Sims finished a steal-and-fastbreak combination and Strickland canned two free throws to quickly make it 32-23. Mike Brock knocked down a jumper from the right elbow to push the lead into double digits before a Grandieri free throw stopped the 8-0 burst.

Strickland and Cornell Merricks, however, followed with 3-pointers on consecutive trips to give the Crusaders their biggest lead of the half at 40-24.

Alvernia led 42-26 in the final seconds before Todd Brady (Hancock, NH/ConVal) canned a bouncing 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Crusader advantage to 13 heading into the locker room.

Almost single-handedly, Glaser pulled Gettysburg within eight points in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring on a free throw, a 3-pointer and a layup to cut the deficit to 45-37 with 16:35 left.

It was as close the Bullets would get, however. Strickland restored Alvernia's double-digit lead with a high-arching jump shot and Lamar Brickus scored on two free throws and a breakaway layup to make it 51-39.

Strickland followed with a 3-point play to start a 21-7 Alvernia run that built the lead to 73-46 with 7:13 left.

Behind Fromm's 10 points, Gettysburg managed to pull within 12 when Glaser's final 3-pointer of the day made it 74-62 with 2:53 remaining.

Averaging nearly 21 turnovers per game entering the contest, the Bullets committed 27 more against Alvernia. The Crusaders shot 59 percent from the floor on the afternoon, including a 65-percent clip in the second half.

Brock finished with 10 for Alvernia.

Gettysburg returns to action on Wednesday at home against Muhlenberg. Game time is 8 p.m.

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