Box Score

Albright battled to cut a 13-point second half deficit to three and had a chance to tie, but ultimately came up short in a 60-57 loss at Messiah on Wednesday night.

Junior Dave Singleton had a team-high 15 points and five rebounds, while senior Derek Hall aded 13 points and four blocks. Pedro Perez had a team-high six rebounds off the bench.

Down 56-46 with 5:32 left, a pair of Singleton free throws brought the gap back to single-digits. Singleton scored again off Cornell Mickens' steal, and Kyle Jordan beat his man in the lane to cut the deficit to four.

After a Messiah free throw, Singleton took his man one-on-one and pulled up for a tough jumper that got it back to within a possession for the first time all half, 57-54. He had a chance to cut it to one, but was unlucky as his jumper found a way to roll out, leading to a killer Derek Mosley three.

Perez again made it a three-point game, with a clutch three of the inbounds that made it 60-57 with 39 seconds to play. A missed Messiah free throw gave Albright one final chance, with 13.6 seconds left on the clock. Albright couldn't get the open look they wanted however, and Mickens' contested three rolled off the rim.

Albright trailed by as much as 13 in the second half when Taylor Groff finished a put back off Hall's block.  Reuel Moore kept the Lions in the game however with five straight points- a fast break bucket and a three-pointer from the right side.

Singleton hit a long jumper as Albright inched closer, to 46-40. Messiah's lead was soon back into double-digits though, and the Falcons led 54-42 after Groff's three, with 9:16 remaining.

Messiah led 35-29 at the break after a killer 16-2 run that erased an early Lions lead.

Albright's bigs had gotten them off the right foot, as Hall scored the first four points of the game (including a nice bank shot) before Shane Irwin's post move made it 6-2 Lions.

A three-pointer from Mickens and a baseline jumper from Irwin quickly made it 11-4 and forced the Falcons to take a timeout. Zac Hoy drained a big three and then sunks two free throws, before David Fernandez's three capped a stretch of 10 unanswered points for the hosts.

Singleton ran down his own miss and broke the slump with a basket, but Hoy's jumper soon stretched the run to 16-2. After a Brad Bolen three put Messiah ahead by nine, the big man Hall answered from downtown.

Bolen had 15 points and six rebounds for Messiah, both equaling game-highs. Fernandez was in double-figures with 13 points.

Albright is still 9-5 overall, but is 0-3 in Commonwealth Conference play after three tough defeats. The Lions will look to get their season back on track with a massive home game against Elizabethtown, this Saturday at 2 p.m.