Frederick, Md. – The Albright men's basketball team made its first eight shots and assisted on 20 of its 24 field goals as it defeated Hood, 75-69, on Wednesday night in MAC Commonwealth action. A game after scoring a career-high 28 points,
Omari Ringgold finished with 27 against Hood while making seven three pointers. That is tied for third most in a game in school history.
Albright never trailed as it jumped out to an 18-4 lead just over four minutes into action thanks to those first eight makes. Ringgold and
DeJuan Smith each scored eight points on that run, and Ringgold had two of his three pointers.
Hood cut the lead to nine points on two free throws with 7:21 left in the first half, but the Lions responded with an 11-0 run to push its lead to 20 points, 39-19, with 4:22 to play. Smith hit a jumper with five seconds left to send the Lions into halftime ahead, 46-25. Albright shot 53.1 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from beyond the arc in the first half while holding Hood to 31 percent from the field and 20 percent from three-point range.
The Albright lead lingered in double figures for the majority of the second half, but Hood cut the deficit to single digits on a three-point play with 8:26 left. Hood cut its deficit all the way down to a single possession on a pair of free throws with 4:24 left. It was 64-61 Albright.
The lead stood at three for the Lions when Hood had the ball with a chance to tie or pull to within a point with just over a minute remaining, but
Fred Rowles got a steal and a fast-break layup to push the advantage back to a 70-65 advantage.
Hood trailed, 70-67, with 24 seconds left when it got a layup and the foul. Hood missed the potential tying free throw, and Albright hit its final five free throws to hold onto its lead at the victory.
Smith had 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Rowles finished with 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Garrett Oplinger had six points and seven rebounds. The Albright defense forced 16 Hood turnovers.
Albright returns home to face Lebanon Valley on Saturday at 4 p.m.
