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Albright College Athletics

MBB Seniors 17
67
Messiah College MESSM 12-12, 7-9
92
Winner Albright ALBM 12-13, 10-6
Messiah College MESSM
12-12, 7-9
67
Final
92
Albright ALBM
12-13, 10-6
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Messiah College MESSM 27 40 67
Albright ALBM 55 37 92

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Routs Messiah on Senior Day, 92-67

READING, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team celebrated its senior class prior to its regular season finale against Messiah on Saturday afternoon at Bollman Center, and that festive mood carried right into the game as the Lions roared out to a 16-0 lead on its way to a 92-67 victory. With the win, the Lions secured the No. 3 seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth tournament.

On a day that honored the seniors, a junior found his way into the Albright record books. DeJuan Smith became the 37th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. He needed 18 coming into action, and he got off to a fast start during Albright's 16-0 run to open the game. Smith scored seven of those first 16 points, leading off the game with back-to-back buckets and capping the run with a three-point play to make it 16-0 with 14:18 to play in the first half. Smith finished with 22 points, eclipsing the 1,000-point mark on a three pointer in the second half.

Seniors Omari Ringgold and Thomas Vazzana also scored on that opening run. Ringgold, who surpassed 1,000 career points last week at Alvernia, scored five points in 30 seconds. Vazzana scored on a lay-in just after Ringgold's mini-run. Ringgold scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting while Vazzana had four points and four boards.

The Lions shot 60.6 percent in the first half, including making 8-of-14 from three-point range. Albright held Messiah to 30 percent from the floor, and that enabled the Lions to expand their lead to 30 points on back-to-back three pointers by Jaylin Calloway to make it 47-17 with 5:40 left. The lead hit its apex of 31 points for the game on a three pointer by Matt Yedsena with 2:19 left in the first half to make it 52-21. Calloway had eight points while Yedsena finished with seven.

All 11 Lions who played scored at least four points. Garrett Oplinger was the third player to hit double figures, finishing with 10 points. Fred Rowles had seven points, eight rebounds and four assists. Brandon Lindsay had nine points and three assists. Albright assisted on 21 of its 36 baskets, and it outrebounded Messiah, 40-26.

Albright will now travel to Widener for a MAC Commonwealth tournament semifinal game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The teams split the regular-season series with each team winning at home. Albright won the first meeting on Dec. 7 at home by a score of 77-69. Widener won the most recent meeting on Jan. 21 at home by a score of 89-78 in overtime.
 
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