READING, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team punched its ticket for the MAC Commonwealth Championship game with a convincing 86-68 victory at Widener on Wednesday night. Fred Rowles led four Albright players in double figures with a game-high 24 points.

Albright shot 64.3 percent from the field in the first half as it raced to a 48-28 lead at the break. It took the Lions two minutes to get on the board thanks to a Rowles basket, but it was full speed ahead for those final 18 minutes. Rowles made three pointers on consecutive possessions to make it 15-8 Albright with 14:39 to play. Jaylin Calloway pushed the lead into double figures for the first time with a three pointer and a layup to make it 26-14 with 10:26 left.

The Lions put distance in the margin with a 12-0 in the latter minutes of the first half. Omari Ringgold and Rowles started the run with three pointers to make it 40-24 Albright. Brandon Lindsay and Rowles had layups before a pair of Ringgold free throws capped the run with the Lions ahead, 46-24, with 2:05 left in the half.

Albright held Widener scoreless for a six-minute stretch in the second half. During that time, the Lions extended its lead to a game-high 34 points thanks to another 12-0 run. DeJuan Smith and Jayson Clark each scored six points on that run to push the Lions' lead to 72-38 with 10:23 left in the game.

Widener did some scoreboard maintenance in the final minutes, cutting the deficit to 16 with less than two minutes to play.

Ringgold finished with 19 points. Smith had 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Clark had 10 points while Calloway finished with eight. Albright shot 55 percent (11-for-20) from three-point range. Rowles had four threes, and Ringgold had three.

The Lions will look for their 11^th conference championship and first since 2010 when they face Lycoming on Saturday. Albright's win in 2010 came against Lycoming. Tip-off for Saturday's game is still to be announced.