Box Score

The Albright College men's basketball team erased a nine-point second half deficit but went cold down the stretch, losing 74-66 to Widener, Saturday in Chester, Pa.

Junior Cornell Mickens finished with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while sophomore Kyle Jordan added 14 points and three steals. Center Derek Hall had 12 points and a game-high five assists.

With the game tied at 61-61 and under three minutes to go, Widener's Perry Wright got to the rim from the left side to put his team ahead. Brian Smith then was left alone in the corner for a three that stretched the gap to five.

Albright's last field goal came with 6:12 to go in the game, until Mickens finished off a fast break with 52 seconds left. The Lions' couldn't recover from that 5:20 scoreless drought, as the Pride made free throws down the stretch to lock up the game.

Junior Rob McPherson, Widener's third leading scorer and rebounder heading into the game, only managed to play 10 minutes when he was whistled for his fourth foul early in the second half. The Pride had just had their biggest lead of the game at that point on a McPherson three-pointer to put them up by nine. McPherson would foul out after briefly returning later in the half.

Down by eight, Jordan converted an acrobatic basket and was fouled, although he missed the freebie. He then converted a fast break lay-in on the ensuing possession to make it 39-35 Widener, with 16 minutes to play. Hall's lay-in soon pulled the Lions to within two, and the Pride called timeout.

The 6-foot-11 Hall answered Wright's trey with a three of his own, and Sam Marrella was then good from behind the arc to continue a 16-7 Albright run and tie the game at 43-43.

After Widener inched back ahead by four, Mickens hit a jumper and then gave the Lions their first lead of the game with a three-pointer from left hand side. The Pride answered with a 7-0 run however, featuring a pair of threes from Smith.

Albright fought back yet again, pulling to within two on Reuel Moore's free throws and then going ahead by one, again on a Mickens' triple from the left side.

Widener had led 5-0 early, but senior Shane Irwin got Albright on the board with a nice reverse lay-up from the left side.  Albright took the lead for the first time at 8-7 after Mickens fed Irwin on the fast break and then followed up for the put-back after Irwin's shot was blocked.

The Pride fought back to tie, and took a 19-16 lead with 11:14 left in the first half on Smith's three-pointer, forcing Albright to take a timeout. The gap soon stretched to six points, but Irwin banked in a tough basket on the foul, converting the and-one to make it 24-21 Widener.

Pedro Perez found Zach Benjamin with a behind-the-back pass on a fast break to keep the Lions close at 31-27. Widener's Bob Makor then beat the shot clock horn with a turn-around jumper, and the Pride went into halftime with a 33-27 lead.

The Lions are 3-2 overall, but 0-2 in the Commonwealth Conference after a pair of tough losses this week. Albright will travel to face 6-1 Misericordia on Wednesday.