ASHLAND, VA - No. 6  Randolph-Macon topped Alvernia 94-62 Sunday night in the opening round of the 2009 Briggs Elliott Tournament being held in Ashland.  R-MC advances to Monday's championship game where it will take on No. 23 Wooster, which downed NC Wesleyan 87-69 in Sunday's opening contest.

R-MC (7-0) fashioned three players in double figures led by Calvin Croskey who poured in a team-high 17 points on the strength of four three pointers.  Brandon Braxton added 16 points, while Danny Jones came off the bench to add 15 in the win.  The Yellow Jackets were aided by a 54-32 edge on the glass, led by Braxton who grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the victory.   

Alvernia (7-2) got a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds from Nick Rivera in 37 minutes of action.  Tad Gillis played all 40 minutes, scoring 18 points, dishing out four assists and recording four steals on the defensive end of the court. 

The game was close early, with R-MC holding a slim 18-12 lead with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half.  A Croskey jumper made the score 20-12 and sparked what proved to be a 21-6 run, capped by a Jones bucket with just under six minutes to go that made the score 41-18.

R-MC took a 49-30 lead into the locker room and came out in the second-half, extending its advantage to 25 points on a Braxton jumper that made the score 59-34 with 17:10 to play.  The Yellow Jackets did not let their lead dip below 19 in the final frame, extending it to as many as 30 in the closing minutes of play. 

Wooster is 5-3 on the season and advanced behind 24 points from Justin Hallowell, who knocked down seven trifectas in the Fighting Scots win over the Battling Bishops. 

Alvernia and NC Wesleyan will square off in the championship at 5:00 p.m. with R-MC and Wooster tipping off at 7:00 p.m.

-Yellow Jackets-