READING, Pa. -- Freshman Gilberto Benz scored a career-high 26 points and sophomore Josh Marquez had 11 points and six assists to lead Albright to an 84-72 victory over Delaware Valley in the consolation game of the Albright Holiday Tournament on Tuesday in the Bollman Center.

Benz topped his previous career high of 17 points at Franklin & Marshall by finishing the game 7-of-12 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the free throw line. His 26 points is the highest output for an Albright player this season and ranks as his fourth double-figure scoring game of the year.

Marquez, who was named to the all-tournament team, also had three rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. In the two games in the tournament, Marquez scored 27 points and had 14 assists.

Benz led four players in double figures as the Lions also got 15 points from DeJuan Smith and 12 points from Omari Ringgold. Sophomore Thomas Vazzana turned in an outstanding effort for Albright as he recorded a career-high 18 rebounds to go along with six points, a steal and a blocked shot.

Albright, which improved to 5-5 on the season with the victory, rode a season-best shooting performance to the victory. The Lions shot a blistering 76.0 percent in the first half and finished the game shooting 63.3 percent from the field, which easily surpassed Albright's previous shooting high of 55.6 percent against Penn State-Harrisburg.

Delaware Valley, which dropped to 6-6 on the season, was led by Chris Moran who scored 17 points. Nick Sullivan added 16 points for the Aggies.

Albright, which raised its all-time record against Delaware Valley to 24-4, never trailed in the game and took control midway through the opening half.

After Sullivan connected on a three-pointer to cut the Albright lead to 14-11 with 14:45 to play in the opening period, the Lions answered with an 18-2 run to extend the lead to 32-13 with 8:33 remaining in the first half. Benz was the spark plug for Albright as he scored 12 of the 18 points including a string of eight consecutive points.

Delaware Valley trimmed the lead to 32-17, but back-to-back baskets by Marquez and Smith and a three-point play by Benz gave the Lions their largest lead of the first half at 39-17 with 5:53 remaining in the first half.

The Aggies closed out the first half on a 17-8 run to cut the lead to 47-34 at halftime.

Following a three-point play by Moran, which cut the Albright lead to 49-37, the Lions responded with a 12-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 60-37 with 15:21 left to play in the game.

Albright never led by less than double figures for the remainder of the contest.

Albright will return to Commonwealth Conference action on Saturday (Jan. 3) when it hosts Stevenson at 4 p.m. in the Bollman Center.

2014 Albright Holiday All-Tournament Team
Josh Marquez, Albright
Jake Sinicki, Hartwick
Trevor Norton, Hartwick
Kennedy Drey, Buena Vista
Alex Savage, Buena Vista
Nick Clark, Buena Vista (MVP)