READING, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team overcame a 13-point deficit to take a second-half lead in Tuesday's non-conference game against Eastern at Bollman Center, but the Eagles pulled away in the final minutes to defeat the Lions, 76-64.
Eastern jumped out to its largest lead of the game just more than seven minutes into action. The Eagles used a 15-0 run in the opening minutes to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 17-4 lead with 12:30 remaining in the first half. The lead swayed from 13 down to eight points throughout the rest of the first half, with it finally settling at 35-26 at the intermission thanks to a layup from Isaiah Harris with 1:18 to play.
Though the Lions shot just 30 percent from the field in the first half, Albright managed to stay within single digits thanks to six points apiece in the half from
Fred Rowles and
Brandon Lindsay.
Albright (3-1) made its run out of the second-half gate, using a 13-5 run to cut its deficit to 42-39 after a three pointer by
Jaylin Calloway. He made a pair of threes in the game and finished with 12 points.
Albright pushed ahead thanks to a 7-0 run later in the half. Rowles hit a three pointer,
DeJuan Smith scored on a layup and a pair of free throws, and Lindsay nailed a three to make it 49-48 Albright with 12:57 remaining in regulation.
The teams jostled within a possession of each other as the lead continued to change hands for the next nine minutes. Rowles scored six consecutive Albright points, each time giving the Lions a one-point advantage. The last of those gave Albright its final lead of the night at 62-61 with 5:30 remaining.
Eastern (1-2) returned fire with seven straight points in the next 89 seconds to lead, 68-62, and it never led by fewer than five points in the final four minutes.
Rowles poured in a team-high 18 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. Lindsay joined Calloway and Rowles in double figures with 12 points.
DeLascio Dancy led Albright with five assists.
Eastern's Victor Pena led all scorers with 27 points to go along with a game-high 15 rebounds.
Albright returns to action on Nov. 29 when it hosts Stevenson in the Lions' MAC Commonwealth opener.
