WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – A pair of late free throws by No. 12 Lycoming pushed the Warriors past the Albright men's basketball team, 86-85, on Wednesday night.
Brandon Lindsay led the Lions with 20 points.
DeJuan Smith just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The two free throws with just five seconds left by Lycoming's D'Yante Doughty gave the Warriors the victory, and it was on those free throws that Lycoming took its very first lead of the game. Albright led from wire-to-wire, grabbing an early 17-7 lead and extending it to 45-33 by halftime.
In the second half, Lycoming fought back to tie the score at 56-56 with 11:57 to play, but the Lions quickly regained the advantage on their next possession on a bucket from
DeLascio Dancy. He finished with 16 points and six assists.
With the Lions ahead, 63-60, Albright looked like it had taken control by rattling off nine consecutive points in less than two minutes. Lindsay scored five straight points, and Samuel Majekodunmi and
Garrett Oplinger each scored two points to push the lead to 72-60 with 6:31 to play. The largest lead for the Lions came soon after on a Lindsay three pointer to make it a 14-point game at 78-64 with 4:42 remaining. Majekodunmi finished with 15 points and five assists.
Lycoming chipped away at the lead over the next four minutes, cutting it to two, 84-82, on a Doughty bucket with 25 seconds to play.
Fred Rowles made a free throw to make it 85-82, and Lycoming responded with a layup to cut it to 85-84 with 16 seconds left.
The Lions missed a shot to extend the lead back to three with a pair of misses at the free throw line, and a defensive foul on the Lions with five seconds left sent Doughty to the stripe with a chance to tie or to give the Warriors the lead. He sank both to give Lycoming an 86-85 lead, and the Lions couldn't get off a decent look as the horn sounded.
Albright assisted on 20 of its 27 field goals, but the Lions also committed 25 turnovers. The Lions were looking for their second win over a ranked opponent this season after defeating No. 25 Franklin & Marshall, 79-63, last month.
Albright returns home to face Messiah on Saturday at 4 p.m.
