READING, Pa. – A late second half rally was not enough for the Albright men's basketball team as they fell 80-76 to FDU-Florham on the first day of the Crowne Plaza Holiday Tournament at the Bollman Center on Sunday afternoon.
 
With the loss, the Lions drop to 6-5 on the season overall and will now face Cabrini, in a rematch of the Stockton Tip-Off Tournament in November, for the consolation game. Meanwhile, the Devils improve to 5-5 overall on the season, and will face Virginia Wesleyan in the championship game at 4pm tomorrow afternoon.
 
Junior Samuel Majekodunmi matched his career-high of 32 points to lead all scorers on the floor after going 12-of-22 from the field. Majekodunmi also added six rebounds, four steals, and two assists. Classmate Sidney Brown followed with 14 points and two steals, while Isaiah Harris posted 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting along with six rebounds. First-year Jordan Guerrero provided another solid game off the bench with seven points, six rebounds, and four steals.
 
Each team started strong from the field in the opening minutes as the Devils held an 8-7 lead at the 16:42-mark of the first half. Albright opened 3-of-4 from the field, while the Devils hit a pair of three-pointers to hold the advantage. The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes before the Devils continued early three-pointer barrage helped them grab a 21-15 lead at the 12:30-mark. Turnovers then began to plague the Lions as FDU-Florham was able to stretch its lead out to 30-19 at the 7:42-mark of the first half behind four Albright turnovers in a span of 3:42. The Lions were able to cut the Devils lead back down to six points at the 5:48-mark following a fastbreak layup from junior Troy Smoot, but seven-straight Devil points gave FDU-Florham its largest lead of the half at 37-24 with 2:38 left in the first half. The Lions made it a seven-point game at 37-30 with 1:42 left in the first half before the Devils closed the first half with the final four points to go up 41-30 into the locker rooms.
 
Albright opened the second half on a 10-3 run to cut the Devils lead down to 44-40 at the 16-minute mark of the second half to force a FDU-Florham timeout. Out of the timeout, the Devils went on a 9-2 run to go up 53-42 at the 14:01-mark of the second half following four-straight made field goals. The teams traded baskets again over the next few minutes, but the Lions were unable to get under a seven point deficit until the 8:11-mark. A three-pointer from Majekodunmi made it a 64-59 game, and Smoot responded with an ensuing Devil layup with a three-pointer from Smoot to make it a 66-62 game at the 7:43-mark. Brown answered a Devil made jumper with a three-pointer of his own to bring the score to 68-65 with 5:52 left in the second half. Majekodunmi made it a one-point game at 75-74 following a layup with 1:14 left in regulation, and had a chance to take the lead as Harris drew a foul with 47 seconds left. However, Harris missed both free throws and the Devils hit a three-pointer with 23 seconds left to go up 78-74. Majekodunmi quickly made it 78-76 on a layup following a Lions timeout before the Devils closed the game out with a pair of free throws with four seconds left.
 
The Lions shot 45.5 percent (30-of-66) from the field overall and just 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from beyond the arc. Albright went 11-of-20 (55%), and held a 37-31 rebounding advantage that led to 14 second chance points. Meanwhile, the Devils shot a strong 56.4 percent (31-of-55) from the field and went 13-of-27 (48.1%) from beyond the arc. FDU-Florham went 5-of-10 from the free throw line, and scored 16 points off 14 Lions turnovers.
 
Anthony Fleurantin was lights out from the field for the Devils as he scored a team-high 31 points behind going 12-of-19 from the field and 7-of-10 from beyond the arc. Oliver Ortman added 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the field.
 
Albright returns to action tomorrow, December 30^th as they will face Cabrini in the consolation game of the Crowne Plaza Holiday Tournament at 2 p.m.