READING, Pa. – DeJuan Smith's leaner from the right block with seven seconds remaining gave the Albright men's basketball team a one-point lead over Widener in a game that the Lions would go on to win, 82-79. Smith finished with 18 points, and fellow senior Brandon Lindsay led all scorers with 26 points.
 

The Lions (13-4, 6-3) have grown accustomed to the close games. Saturday marked the fourth straight game for Albright that was either decided by one possession or in overtime. Smith's shot, and the subsequent Widener turnover that led to a pair of free throws by Samuel Majekodunmi to reach the final score, helped the Lions keep pace with Lebanon Valley in a tie for second place in the conference.

Smith's shot was necessary thanks to a back-and-forth game that saw a back-and-forth final few minutes. After Garrett Oplinger made a free throw to give Albright a 75-74 lead with 2:44 remaining, Sardayah Sambo scored to put Widener back ahead, 76-75, with 1:54 left.

Oplinger responded on the Lions' next possession, nailing a three pointer from the left wing on a feed from Fred Rowles to put Albright back on top by two. Sam Smith answered with a three of his own on the next play, pushing Widener back on top, 79-78.

After both teams missed field goals, the Lions took a timeout to set up the game-winning shot for Smith. He drove through the lane, stopped at the right block, and banked in his shot to make it 80-79 with seven seconds left.

Widener (8-9, 2-7) elected to not use a timeout on its possession. Ryan McMahon tried to stop on the right baseline as the clocked ticked below two seconds, but he dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds. Majekodunmi was fouled on the inbounds pass, and his free throws with 0.6 seconds left added insurance. A desperation shot after a Hail Mary pass for Widener didn't come close, and the Lions had an 82-79 victory.

Both teams came out on fire at the offensive end in the first half. With eight minutes left in the half, both teams were comfortably above 70 percent from the field. The shooting cooled off in the latter stages of the half, but Widener still shot 64 percent in the first while Albright was at 50 percent. Lindsay made all five of his three pointers in the first half as he had 19 points at the break. The score was tied at 42 at the half.

Rowles was the third Lion to hit double figures, finishing with 16 points.

Albright hits the road for a pair of road games next week. Arcadia is first with a Wednesday tip-off time of 8 p.m.