READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions men's basketball team nearly rallied in the final minute before ultimately coming up short against Alvernia, 54-52, at the Bollman Center on Wednesday night in MAC Commonwealth play.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 4-12 overall after suffering their sixth-straight loss and 3-5 in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the Golden Wolves improve to 7-9 overall after tallying their third-straight win and 3-5 in conference play.
 
Sophomore Samuel Majekodunmi led the Lions again with 20 points, while adding eight rebounds and four assists. It was his 11^th 20-point game of the season. Senior Jared Rappoport posted 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field, and added eight rebounds plus four blocks. Sophomore Isaiah Harris recorded 10 points off the bench on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and four rebounds.
 
The first five minutes of the game saw back and forth action to leave the score knotted at five at the 15:35-mark. Albright then scored 11-straight points to take a 16-5 lead at the 12:14-mark to force an Alvernia timeout. The Golden Wolves would erase the deficit with nine-straight points to make it a 16-14 game at the 5:49-mark. A jumper from Harris at the 5:29-mark ended a stretch of 6:45 without a point for the Lions. Harris then gave the Lions a 20-16 lead at the 4:15-mark on a layup, but then the Golden Wolves closed the half on a 10-0 run to take a 26-20 at halftime. Overall, Alvernia used a 21-4 run in the final 12 minutes of the first half to take the advantage.
 
Albright scored the first five points of the second half to cut the Alvernia lead down to 26-25 at the 18:52-mark. With the score at 28-27, the Golden Wolves would then use a 9-1 run to take their largest lead of the game at 37-28 with 13:41 left in the second half. Albright would go on a 10-4 run over a long span of 5:16 to cut the Alvernia advantage down to 41-38 at the 6:35-mark, and made it a one-point game at 43-42 just over a minute later. The Golden Wolves ended the run with back-to-back baskets to go up 47-42, but Albright fought back again with five-straight points to tie the game at 47 with 2:50 left in the second half. Alvernia again scored five-straight points to go up 52-47 until the Lions tied the game at 52 with five-straight points again that was capped by a three-point play from Majekodunmi with 47 seconds left. The Golden Wolves split free throws to take a 53-52 lead, and would maintain it following a Lions turnover under the basket. After another split of Golden Wolve free throws, Majekodunmi had a potential game-tying basket blocked to force Alvernia back to the line with seven seconds left. Alvernia missed both free throws to give the Lions one last chance, but a turnover prevented a chance for the Lions to tie or win the game on the final possession.
 
The Lions shot 31.7 percent (19-of-60) from the field and just 3-of-23 (13%) from beyond the arc. Albright went 11-of-19 (57.9%) from the free throw line and held a slight 42-38 rebounding advantage. Meanwhile, the Golden Wolves shot 37.5 percent (21-of-56) from the field and just 2-of-11 (18.2%) from three-point range. Alvernia went 10-of-23 (43.5%) from the free throw line and forced 11 Lion turnovers.
 
Nick Youngkin led the Golden Wolves with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds, while Keon Taylor and Malik Green each posted eight points.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, January 19^th when they will travel to face Lebanon Valley in MAC Commonwealth play at 4 p.m.