Box Score

READING, Pa. - The Albright Men's Basketball began their 2009-2010 campaign Friday night in the night cap of the first round of the Wyndham-Reading Albright College Tip-off Tournament. They would start the season off on the right foot by finishing victoriously 88-70 over the Berkeley Knights. 

The first half of the game was completely one-sided, with Albright leading 53-24 after the first twenty minutes of play. Leading the way for the red and white were sharpshooters Matt Ashcroft and Zac Shaeffer. The dynamic duo drilled five three-pointers on the Knights defense in the first half and combined for 26 points. 

The Lions used a seven minute time frame to put up 17 unanswered points, to put them heads and shoulders above Berkeley on the night. Aggressive defense and smart passing would be the key to that 17 point run. 

Shaeffer and Ashcroft would finish as the team's leading scorers at 13 apiece. Andrew Pomager joined them in double figures, scoring 12 points on the evening. 

Justin Plummer had a typical night on the glass, leading the red and white in the rebounding category with six, four of which were offensive. 

The trio of Adam Van Zelst, Ryan Van Zelst, and Jeff Sparrow took it upon themselves to lead the Lions attack by distributing 13 assists among the three of them. 

Joshua Witsell led the Knights by scoring 16 points and pairing that with six rebounds. Joining him in double digits were Kaseem Williams and Damir Redzepagic, each scoring 15 points. 

In the first game of the tournament, The College of New Jersey upset DeSales University, who came into the contest ranked number seven in the nation. Aaron Syvertsen scored 25 points and Steven Siracusa contributed with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Lions. Leading the Bulldogs was Preseason All-American honoree, Darnell Braswell, who scored 22 points and had eight rebounds as well. 

Albright will take on TCNJ in the championship game of the tournament Saturday evening at 8 p.m. in the Bollman Center. Before that game, the Bulldogs of DeSales University go up against Berkeley in the consolation contest.