Box Score

The Albright College men's basketball team was awarded the #2 ranking in the Mid-Atlantic Region on Wednesday night, but couldn't back it up in a 70-60 loss at Hood College.

Three-point shooting doomed the Lions, as they made just one of 23 (4.3%) attempts from behind the arc. Junior Pedro Perez had 15 points, six rebounds and three steals, but missed nine of his 10 three-point attempts. Senior Dave Singleton had 20 points and eight boards.

Albright shot 32.2% overall from the field, while Hood was at 51.5% to help overhaul a turnover disparity of 21-to-13 in favor of the Lions.

Tied at halftime, the Lions lost their way in the second period, missing all 15 three-point attempts. Hood's Cameron Cook drained a three to make it 44-37, and Trey Quinn scored to extend the home lead to nine points.

Hood had its first double-digit lead when a Quinn free throw made it 47-37. Albright fought all the way back to 47-46, but could get no closer than three points the rest of the way.
 
Perez had opened the scoring on Albright's first possession of the night, and he teams traded baskets with the Lions grabbing five two-point leads in a row. Reuel Moore finally pushed that advantage to four, with a jumper to make it 14-10 with 9:34 left before halftime.

Hood responded with six straight points, taking their first lead on Cook's three-pointer, and pushing that gap to 17-14 on  Quinn's basket. Andre Marshall finished an athletic lay-up to break the streak.

Perez scored to help Albright edge ahead 18-17, but Hood scored the next eight points on the run that was capped by Reggie Daniels' jumper.

Perez scored five straight late in the first half (two free throws and a three-pointer), and Sam Marrella hit a lay-up in the final seconds as the teams went into the locker room tied at 27-27.

Reigning Commonwealth Player of the Week Cook made 9-of-13 shots (and 4-of-6 threes) to finish with 28 points. Quinn added 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

With Alvernia winning, the Lions (18-4, 11-4) drop a game back in the race for the Commonwealth Conference top seed. Albright actually did move closer to clinching a home game however, with the third through fifth seeds (Arcadia, Lycoming, Messiah) all losing. One more victory for Albright will mean a top-two seed and a home playoff game in the Bollman Center. Meanwhile, Hood (7-8) moves to just one game out of the playoffs with a third consecutive win.

Albright (#2 in the first regional rankings of the 2012-13 season) will host Stevenson on Saturday, and seniors Singleton, Cornell Mickens and Zach Benjamin will be recognized before their final regular season contest in the Bollman Center.