READING, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team held Arcadia to just 30.4 percent shooting – and 17.9 percent in the first half – in the teams' MAC Commonwealth Championship semifinal game on Wednesday night at Bollman Center. Albright jumped out to a 23-6 lead and never looked back as it defeated the Knights, 58-45.
Albright (20-5) never trailed and only found itself in a tie game for the first 43 seconds of action.
DeLascio Dancy hit a three pointer on the Lions' first possession, and Albright never looked back. Arcadia made just two field goals in the first 13:15 of action and finished the first half shooting 5-for-28.
On the other side, the Lions shot just 37.9 percent in the first half while making just 2-of-9 from three-point range, but it was more than enough to carry a 27-12 lead into halftime. Albright used an 18-3 run that spanned more than 10 minutes in the first half to build that lead.
Fred Rowles nearly posted a double-double in the first half as he scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds. He did finish with a double-double, pouring in a game-high 19 points while grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.
Albright extended its lead to a game-high 21 points early in the second half, and Arcadia mounted a small run by scoring six straight points to cut the Albright lead to 38-27 with 12:20 to play. The Lions responded with the next eight points, though, with the first four coming from
Garrett Oplinger. That pushed the advantage back to 19 points with 9:12 left, and the game pressure was effectively gone from that point forward.
The Lions return to the MAC Commonwealth Championship title game for the second-consecutive year and will host Lebanon Valley on Saturday. The second-seeded Dutchmen defeated Lycoming, 86-85, in overtime in the other semifinal game on Wednesday night.
The Lions are looking for their 11
th MAC title and third MAC Commonwealth crown. The previous two MAC Commonwealth titles came in 2010 and 2005. In that 2005 game, Albright defeated Lebanon Valley, 81-68.
Albright and Lebanon Valley will play for the MAC Commonwealth title at Bollman Center on Saturday at 4 p.m.
