READING, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team handed No. 25 Franklin & Marshall its first loss of the season in a convincing 79-63 victory over the Diplomats on Friday night at Bollman Center. The Lions forced 20 turnovers and scored 22 points off those turnovers.

Albright (7-1) snapped a five-game losing streak to the Diplomats dating back to 2000, and the Lions did it with hot shooting in the first half. Albright shot 53.8 percent from the field while making 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) from three-point range. The Lions also forced 15 of those 20 turnovers in the first half.

The Lions took its first double-digit lead just eight minutes into action on Fred Rowles' jumper. Rowles scored 14 of his season-high 23 points in the first half. That game total was just one point off his career-high of 24 against Widener last year. Rowles also matched his career high with 13 rebounds. He also had a career-high five steals.

His basket made it 23-12 Albright with 11:56 left in the first, and the lead remained no smaller than eight points through the first half. The Lions carried a 41-28 lead into the intermission. Brandon Lindsay's 11 points and DeJuan Smith's 10 points joined Rowles in double figures in the first half.

The lead hovered in that range through the first portion of the second half. Franklin & Marshall (8-1) made a push midway through the period. It cut the Albright lead from 13 points to seven after a Brandon Federici three pointer made it 59-52 with 7:49 left. After the teams traded threes on consecutive possessions to put it at 62-55, freshman Samuel Majekodunmi scored five straight Albright points to get the lead back into double digits. The Albright advantage never sank back into single digits from that point forward.

Smith finished with 18 points while Lindsay scored 14. Majekodunmi and Jared Rappoport each chipped in with eight points.

The Lions return to action on Dec. 19 when they host Wilkes at 7 p.m.