Box Score READING (PA) – The Delaware Valley University men's basketball team opened its 2015-16 campaign with an 83-66 loss at three-time defending Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) champion Alvernia University.
The Aggies, who reached the MAC Freedom title game a season ago, were without the services of one of their two returning starters in senior point guard
Zach Sly. It showed, especially in the first half as DelVal turned the ball over 10 times and it resulted in a 15-2 advantage in points off turnovers for the Crusaders.
Alvernia used those turnovers to key a 15-2 run midway through the stanza that turned a one-point lead into a 25-11 advantage. The Crusaders built the lead to as many as 21 and took a 472-8 lead into the break behind 58.3 percent shooting from the field.
The Aggies opened the second half with five straight points and later used a free throw from senior
Barry Brockington and five straight from freshman
Alex Matsinye for a 6-0 run and a 54-45 deficit with 14:11 remaining. It was a nine-point contest on two other occasions, the last coming after a
Matthew Gerner jumper with 12:22 to go made it 58-49. However, Alvernia bumped its lead back up to 18 over the next eight minutes and DelVal didn't get closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
The Crusaders finished the evening shooting 53.2 percent from the field, including an 8-for-19 effort from 3-point land. They also turned the ball over just nine times compared to 17 by DelVal. The Aggies did have a 32-25 advantage on the boards with 13 coming on the offensive end.
Two-time all-conference honoree
Chris Moran notched a double-double to start his senior season as he finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Alex Matsinye added 16 points before fouling out while Brockington contributed 10 points and eight boards.
Mike Miller led Alvernia with a game-high 24 points. Adam Siegrist had 17 points and eight rebounds while Charles Cooper finished with 14 points.
DelVal will have its home opener on Tuesday, November 17 when Penn State Brandywine comes to Doylestown.
