Box Score

READING, Pa. - Looking to secure the number one spot in the Commonwealth Conference tournament the Lions (19-5/10-4 CC) coming off the huge double overtime win on Tuesday hosted Messiah College (16-9/9-5 CC) Saturday afternoon in the Bollman Center on Senior Day.

With the postseason still uncertain the Lions looked to earn not only the top spot in this year's tournament, but the conference's regular season championship as well. Unfortunately the Falcons had other ideas as they absolutely stunned the Lions and their fans with a 77-66 win.

Prior to the start of Saturday's contest Albright recognized the three senior members of this year's squad in Adam Van Zelst, Justin Plummer, and Andre Murphy.

Saturday's loss dropped Albright to the number two seed in this year's conference tournament giving Lycoming College home court advantage throughout if they advance to championship game. Messiah has secured the number three spot and Elizabethtown College closes out this year's tournament as the number four seed.

The Falcons looking to play the spoiler on Senior Day shot could not miss in the second half has they shot an impressive 59.3% from the field through the final 20 minutes of play. From behind the arc Messiah was 3-for-6 and at the line they shot 70.6%. On the day, the Falcons shot 50.9% from the field, 46.7% from three-point range, and 76.2% at the charity strip.

Proving to be their major downfall for Albright was their inability to complete plays and score the easy baskets. From three-point range the red and white also struggled shooting just 27.8% overall. At the line however, Albright was nearly perfect shooting a season best 90.5% (19-21).

Junior Zac Shaeffer once again proved to be the Lions top offensive threat scoring a game-high 20 points. Combined the Lampeter native scored a sensational 64 points in the final two games of the regular season this week.

From the floor Shaeffer was 5-of-10 while behind the arc he was just 1-of-5. At the line he made nine of his 10 attempts. Matt Ashcroft was the second leading scorer for Albright tallying 18 points, followed by Van Zelst who scored 11.

The Falcons totaled four double-figure scorers on Saturday, with Chris Yoder leading the team with 16 points. Kyle Snyder recorded 14 points, followed by Colton Reitz with 12 and Trey Ritzman with 10.

Albright's largest lead of the day was seven points at the 7:34 mark in the first half. From there it was all Messiah as their consistent shooting gave them a substantial lead over the Lions especially in the second half.

The Lions will now take this loss and use it as fuel for next Wednesday's Commonwealth Conference semi-final game. Albright will host the Falcons in the Bollman Center with the ball scheduled to drop at 7:30 p.m. Elizabethtown will face Lycoming at 7 p.m. in Williamsport.

Tickets for Wednesday's contest are priced at $6 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for students, and children under the age of 6 get in free.