READING, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team began the 2017-18 season with a 107-78 victory at Penn State Berks on Wednesday night. DeJuan Smith led the Lions with 25 points. Albright led from wire-to-wire.

Albright carried a 50-34 lead into halftime thanks to a strong start. The Lions opened with a 19-5 lead in the first 5:50 before Berks called its first timeout. Following the timeout, Jared Rappoport capped Albright's 11-0 run with a layup to give the Lions a 21-5 lead with 13:49 left in the first half.

Penn State Berks trimmed the deficit to eight points on two occasions, but the Lions answered with baskets by Samuel Majekodunmi and Smith to push the lead back to double digits. Berks cut the lead to nine on a layup with 6:16 to play in the half, but Albright responded with back-to-back three pointers from Jaylin Calloway and Smith. Smith scored 14 points with six boards and three steals in the first half.

Those two three pointers started a 14-2 run for Albright that included a pair of layups by Rappoport and a bucket from Brandon Lindsay. Rappoport tallied 16 points and eight boards in the first half, including four on the offensive end. He finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, both career highs.

Fred Rowles was the third player to score in double figures. He finished with 11 points. Albright had 14 different players score. The Lions also had 16 steals while forcing 21 turnovers, scoring 34 points off of those turnovers.

The Lions surpassed 100 points for the first time since scoring 103 points in a win at King's on Nov. 20, 2012. The 107 points are the most in a game for Albright since scoring 111 in a double-overtime victory over Alvernia on Feb. 16, 2010.

Albright returns to action this weekend at the Susquehanna Tip-Off Tournament. The Lions face Rowan on Friday.