WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Albright Lions men's basketball team suffered an 85-77 loss to Wilkes in non-conference action on Tuesday night in the final game before a brief holiday break.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 4-7 overall and 1-5 in away contests this season. Meanwhile, the Colonels improve to 8-1 after tallying their fourth-straight win.
 
Senior Jared Rappoport registered a career-high 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field, while adding a team-high seven rebounds, and three blocks. Sophomore Samuel Majekodunmi added 13 points and five rebounds, while his classmate Troy Smoot posted 10 points, three rebounds, and two assists.
 
The game started with back and forth action between the teams as neither team was able to get a lead of more than two points until the 8:05-mark of the first half. During that span, the lead changed hands eight times and the game became tied on five separate occasions. The Colonels took a three-point lead at 18-15 at that 8:05-mark, while at the time Rappoport had eight of the Lions 15 points. A jumper from Majekodunmi gave the Lions their first lead since the 10:52-mark with 4:07 left in the first half at 24-22 before the Lions closed out the first half on a 9-3 run to take a 33-29 lead into halftime.
 
The second half saw more back-and-forth action as the Lions held a 40-39 lead at the 17:12-mark as the offense for each team began heating up. Wilkes then used a 9-3 run after making four-straight baskets to take a 48-43 lead at the 13:49-mark. The Colonels continued to stay hot from the field as they extended their lead to seven points at 56-49 with 10:55 left in the second half. The Lions rallied behind a 9-2 run to knot the score at 58 at the 9:21-mark, but the Colonels quickly ended that momentum with six-straight points to go back up 64-58. Unfortunately for the Lions, they would be unable to get their deficit below six points for the rest of the game as the Colonels built a lead by as much as 12 points during the final minutes of the second half. A 12-4 run over a span of 5:17 following the six-straight points would eventually put the game away for the Colonels.
 
Albright shot 53.3 percent (32-of-60) from the field for the game and 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from beyond the arc. The Lions went 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the free throw line and scored 42 of their 77 points in the paint. Meanwhile, the Colonels shot 46.9 percent (30-of-64) from the field after shooting a blistering 61.9 percent in the second half. Wilkes went 10-of-22 (45.5%) from beyond the arc and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) from the free throw line. The Colonels held a slight 34-31 rebounding edge and scored 18 points off 12 Lions turnovers.
 
Tommy Bowen led the Colonels with a team-high 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and completed a double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds in addition to adding four assists. Wilkes had four of its five starters finish with double-digit point totals as Marcus Robinson posted 18 points and five assists, while Mark Mullins tallied 17 points and five rebounds.
 
The Lions will take 10 days off and return to action on Saturday, December 29^th when they will face Rosemont in the Crowne Plaza Holiday Tournament at the Bollman Center for a 4 p.m. tip-off.