ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – DeJuan Smith led all scorers with 32 points, but the Albright men's basketball team lost a close game at Eastern, 73-67, on Tuesday night in non-conference play. Brandon Lindsay chipped in with 18 points.

After the game was tied at 33 at halftime, Eastern managed to take an 11-point lead, 54-43, with 13:02 remaining. The Lions chipped away over the next five-plus minutes, narrowing the deficit to two on a Smith three pointer to make it 56-54 with 7:37 remaining. Smith added a layup on the fast break to make it 58-56 Eastern, and Lindsay tied it at 58 with a pair of free throws after a steal with 5:30 remaining. Albright couldn't take the lead, but it held Eastern to a two-possession lead or fewer for the rest of the game.

Lindsay scored to make it 61-60 Eastern with 3:52 left, and the Albright defense forced a miss on the other end. Eastern grabbed an offensive board, though, and got to the stripe to push the lead back to three points. Smith hit a three pointer with 36 seconds left to cut the Eastern lead back to a single possession at 70-67, but Eastern responded by making three of its final four free throws to finish with a 73-67 win.

The Lions led by as many as eight points in the first half before Eastern closed the gap. Eastern made 24-of-28 free throws Albright was 6-of-9 from the stripe. Thomas Vazzana led the Lions with nine rebounds off the bench. Smith had six rebounds while Lindsay, Jayson Clark and Omari Ringgold each had five.

The Lions return to action in the MAC Commonwealth opener at Stevenson on Nov. 30.