READING, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team opened its 2016-17 season with an 88-63 victory over Penn State Berks on Wednesday night at Bollman Center. Omari Ringgold led the Lions with 22 points and three steals, and Albright assisted on 19 of its 29 field goals.

The Lions jumped out to a 17-2 lead in the first 7:15 of action. Ringgold had 10 of those 17 points while Garrett Oplinger had five of them. His layup with 12:45 to play capped the opening run. Penn State Berks fought back to cut the deficit to one later in the half on two separate occasions, but Oplinger sparked a 6-0 run late in the half with a pair of buckets to send Albright into the break with a 35-28 lead. Oplinger scored 12 points and added five rebounds 16 minutes off the bench.

The Lions pulled away in the second half. Ringgold's layup on the fast break gave Albright its first 20-point lead of the night at 61-41 with 11:25 left to play. Damon Stern hit a three pointer to push the lead to 70-45 with 7:49 remaining, and the lead hit its apex at 27 points for the first of three occasions on a pair of free throws by Matt Yedsena to make it 79-52 with 4:36 to go.

After shooting just over 42 percent in the first half, Albright shot 64.3 percent in the second half, making 18 of its 28 field goal attempts in the second. The Lions finished with a 53.7 shooting percentage for the contest. Albright held Penn State Berks to just 35.6 percent from the field.

The Lions also assisted on 19 of its 29 field goals. DeJuan Smith led the way with five assists, and Stern had four. Calvert Gantz secured a game-high eight rebounds.

Albright returns to action on Friday against Marietta in the Hoopsville Classic in Owings Mills, Md. Tip for that game is set for 4 p.m.