Box Score

In the championship game of the Crowne Plaza Holiday Tournament, the Albright College men's basketball team (7-3) let a big lead slip away down the stretch and fell to the Richard Stockton College Ospreys (6-5) 59-58 on Friday afternoon in the Bollman Center.

Five minutes into the second half with the shot clock winding down, a layup by Derek Hall off a pass from Sam Marrella gave the home side a 47-28 lead. Down by 19 a few minutes later, Stockton used effective defensive pressure to reel off 14 consecutive points to cut the lead to 49-44 with 7:54 left in the game. The run was ended by Hall on a left-handed hook shot 30 seconds later.

Albright settled things down and two free throws from Pedro Perez brought the advantage back to 57-48 at the 4:36 mark. Led by tournament MVP Kevin Johnson however, the Ospreys wouldn't go away. Back-to-back buckets from the point guard cut the Albright lead to two with 2:27 to go. With Albright holding a 58-56 advantage, Johnson once again found the paint and hit a layup to tie things up with just over a minute to play.

After neither side could find the scoreboard, Stockton's Salman Yusuff was fouled with 17 seconds remaining. After he hit one free throw, the Lions couldn't convert on their final possession as Shane Irwin missed a runner in the paint as time expired.

In the first half of action, the Lions began to pull away about seven minutes in as a jumper from Kyle Jordan off a pass from Irwin gave Albright a 14-6 lead. A few minutes later, the home team pushed their lead to double digits after Perez swished home a three-point shot with 9:42 to go to make it a 21-11 ballgame.

The Lions then used another successful three pointer, this time courtesy of Irwin, to give themselves a 30-13 advantage with just over five minutes left in the period. A minute and a half later, a well-executed give-and-go between Irwin and Cornell Mickens on the fastbreak ended in a layup for Mickens to provide a 34-16 lead.

The Ospreys cut the lead to 12 on a three-point make by Ibn Moye with 2:23 left before the Lions provided the highlight of the half. After Jordan jumped on a loose ball and passed to Mickens, the junior guard fed a behind-the-back pass to Hall for the slam to make it 36-22 with 1:26 to play, and Albright took a 39-24 advantage into the half.

The Lions were paced by Hall, who finished with a double-double effort of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan also finished in double figures with 10 points while collecting eight rebounds, and Irwin dished a game-high six assists.

Johnson ended the contest with 12 points, four assists and three rebounds for the Ospreys. Stockton's Bill McDonough recorded 10 points and five rebounds, and Rich Suhr nailed three triples to finish with 13 points.

In the consolation game, the Medgar Evers College Cougars (9-4) used a strong surge in the second half of play to defeat the Berkeley College (NJ) Knights (3-9) by the final score of 93-54. The Cougars were paced by all-tournament team selection Winston Douglas. After a 28-point, 20-rebound performance against Richard Stockton on Thursday, Douglas scored 31 points on 12-for-16 shooting and snagged 14 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action due to foul trouble.

The Lions will return to action on January 2 when they face Valley Forge Christian College in the opening round of the Moravian Tournament.

All Tournament Team
MVP: Kevin Johnson- Richard Stockton
Salman Yusuff- Richard Stockton
Derek Hall- Albright
Kyle Jordan- Albright
Winston Douglas- Medgar Evers
Andrew Webber- Berkeley