READING, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team moved to 10-1 on the season as it defeated The College of New Jersey, 69-64, to win the Crowne Plaza Holiday Tournament at Bollman Center on Saturday afternoon.
DeJuan Smith won tournament MVP after scoring 11 points, grabbing four rebounds while adding four steals on Saturday. He led the Lions with 25 points in Friday's win over Penn State Harrisburg.
Albright led for 36:59 while TCNJ (9-2) led for just 45 seconds and never led by more than two points. Even while holding the lead for the large majority of play, the lead for Albright stayed in single digits for most of the contest. The Lions' largest lead of 10 points came on four occasions in the second half, and TCNJ always answered with the next basket to shrink the lead back into single digits.
Albright hit a 10-point lead thanks to a three-point play by
Fred Rowles with 11:27 to play. Rowles scored 11 points and just missed his second-straight double-double with nine rebounds. Rowles and
Brandon Lindsay were both named to the All-Tournament Team. Lindsay finished with 15 points after scoring 14 on Friday.
Jared Rappoport and
Jaylin Calloway each scored 10 points to give the Lions' five players in double-digit scoring on the day. Rappoport made a pair of free throws with 2:12 left to make it 65-56 Albright, but TCNJ responded with the next five points to make it 65-61 with 38 seconds left. TCNJ had the ball, but Calloway rebounded a missed three pointer and was fouled. He converted both free throws with 29 seconds to play to make it 67-61, effectively ending the drama after TCNJ missed again on its next possession.
Both teams struggled from the field, shooting below 40 percent and below 30 percent from three-point range. Albright did shoot 73.7 percent from the free throw line while TCNJ shot 80 percent from the stripe.
TCNJ's Niall Carpenter and Eric Murdock were named to the All-Tournament Team along with Penn State Harrisburg's Anthony Bennett. Harrisburg defeated Kenyon, 83-59, in the consolation game to open Saturday's slate.
The win in the tournament is the first for Albright since the 2013-14 season. It's the fifth Crowne Plaza Holiday Tournament championship for the Lions since 2006.
Albright returns to action at Hood on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
