READING, Pa. – Behind a career-high 44 points from Sam Majekodunmi, the Albright Lions basketball team bounced back with a 92-76 win over Cabrini in the consolation game of the 2019 Crowne Plaza Holiday Tournament on Monday afternoon at the Bollman Center.
With the win, the Lions improve to 7-5 overall on the season as they earn their second win over the Cavaliers after defeating them 83-70 in the Stockton Tip-Off Tournament on November 15
th. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers fall to 3-8 on the season overall.
Majekodunmi's 44 points are tied for the fourth most all-time scored in a single-game, and the most points scored since Zac Shaeffer scored 44 points in a thrilling double overtime win over Alvernia in 2010. He went 16-of-21 from the field, which also ties him for fourth in most field goals made in a single game. In the Lions two games of the tournament, Majekodunmi averaged 38.0 points per game to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
Junior
Sidney Brown was also named to the All-Tournament Team after scoring 17 points against the Cavaliers on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, and 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Brown also posted seven rebounds, and averaged 15.5 points per game in the tournament. Classmate
Isaiah Harris led the Lions with nine rebounds, while senior
DeLascio Dancy tallied seven points, three assists, and two steals in the win.
The Cavaliers opened the game by scoring the first five points in the first 1:32 before the Lions came back with five points of their own to knot the score at the 16:56-mark. Cabrini outscored the Lions 8-3 over the next 3:14 to take a 13-8 lead at the 12:59-mark, and would maintain the lead to 18-14 at the 11:16-mark. Albright used a pair of steals from first-year
Robert Mangum, which led to a pair of fastbreak layups to take a 19-18 lead at the 10:14-mark. The Cavaliers went on an 8-2 run to take a 26-21 lead at the 8:44-mark before the Lions struck back with five-straight points to tie the game at 26 with 8:08 left in the first half. After a pair of free throws put Cabrini up 28-26 at the 7:29-mark, the Lions scored eight-straight points to take a 34-28 lead at the 5:01-mark. Majekodunmi and Brown each hit three-pointers during the run, while holding the Cavaliers scoreless for a span of 2:42. The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes to leave Albright up 40-36 with 2:16 left in the first half. However, the Cavaliers closed the half on an 8-2 run to take a 44-42 lead into the locker rooms following a three-pointer with five seconds left.
It took until the 17:56-mark for the first points to be scored in the second half on a Cavalier layup, and until the 17:24-mark for the Lions to score on a layup from Majekodunmi. The Cavaliers went up 52-47 at the 16:13-mark before the Lions used back-to-back baskets to cut the lead down to 52-51 at the 14:48-mark. After Cabrini went up 54-51 just 21 seconds later, the Lions went on a 13-3 run to take a 64-57 lead at the 10:09-mark. A three-pointer from Brown put the Lions up eight points at 67-59 with 9:32 left in regulation, and the Lions would not allow the Cavaliers to get any closer than five points for the rest of the half. Majekodunmi scored 16 of the final 25 Lion points in the final 9:01 in part of scoring 26 second half points.
The Lions shot 50 percent (34-of-68) from the field overall after shooting 54.5 percent in the second half. Albright went 36 percent (9-of-25) from beyond the arc, and 15-of-24 (62.5%) from the free throw line. Albright held a 44-36 rebounding advantage which led to a 17-6 second chance points advantage, and scored 29 points off 21 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) from the field, and 10-of-25 (40%) from beyond the arc. However, Cabrini went just 2-of-12 from three-point range in the second half. The Cavaliers went 10-of-16 (62.5%) from the free throw line in the loss.
Keith Blassingale led the Cavaliers with a team-high 25 points behind going 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, and grabbed seven rebounds while dishing out four assists. 20 of the 25 points for Blassingale came in the first half. Voshon Mack added 19 points, six rebounds, and five assists while D.J. Smith posted 11 points off the bench.
Albright will return to action on Saturday, January 4
th for its first game in 2020 as they will host Stevenson in MAC Commonwealth play at 3 p.m.
