Alvernia Halts Brandywine’s Winning Streak At Seven

MEDIA, Pa. -- For the first time in over one month, the Penn State Brandywine men's basketball team suffered a loss as the Lions' seven-game winning streak ended Wednesday night at the hands of Alvernia by a 77-59 score.

Brandywine, which reeled off its longest winning streak in 12 years following a loss to NCAA Division I Penn on Nov. 18, was limited to 31 percent shooting and made just 8-of-29 attempts from beyond the arc, falling to 7-3 on the season.

The Lions took their first lead of the game at the 16:34 mark of the first half following a triple off the hands of Anthony Lattanzi (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West), but were held scoreless for the next five minutes by the Golden Wolves, who netted seven-straight points to grab a 13-9 edge.

The Alvernia lead reached as large as seven points before Brandywine trimmed the margin to just one with under two minutes remaining when Ameer Staggs (Ridley, Pa./Ridley) sank a layup. Alex Shippen answered with a three-pointer for the Golden Wolves to send the visitors into halftime with a 29-25 advantage.

After falling behind by nine points early in the second half, James Fisher (Philadelphia, Pa./Upper Darby) helped bring the Lions back by connecting for a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions and the Lions trailed by only two at 43-41 with 12:41 to play.

However, Alvernia responded by scoring 15 of the game's next 17 points in a span of nearly seven minutes to take control of the scoreboard. The Lions slimmed the deficit to 13 points on Fisher's jumper at the 4:02 mark, but could not get it under double figures the rest of the way.

Fisher, who drained four triples, scored a team-high 18 points and collected four rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Staggs produced 10 points and a team-best eight boards, seven of which came on the offensive end of the floor.

Anthony Hedgepeth made 9-of-10 shots from the field to pace Alvernia with 20 points, while also grabbing 10 rebounds before fouling out. Shippen totaled 20 points for the Golden Wolves, who shot 45 percent from the field and made 15-of-19 free throw attempts.

Brandywine (7-3, 4-0 PSUAC) returns to action after the holiday break on Wednesday, January 3 at home against Haverford College (7:00 PM).