GRANTHAM, Pa. – Behind a red-hot performance from beyond the arc, the Albright Lions men's basketball team picked up a key road win against Messiah on Saturday afternoon in MAC Commonwealth play, 82-74.
 
With the win, the Lions kept their MAC Commonwealth Tournament hopes alive by improving to 6-16 overall and 5-9 in conference play. Albright sits one game behind Alvernia for the final spot in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament with two games left in the regular season. Meanwhile, the Falcons fall to 9-15 overall and 5-10 in MAC Commonwealth play to drop a half-game behind the Lions.
 
Sophomore Sidney Brown capped his breakout week by registering a career-high 23 points behind going 7-of-9 from beyond the arc. The seven three-pointers were the most in a single-game for a Lions player since Omari Ringgold drained seven against Hood in 2017. For the week, Brown made 13 three-pointers in two games for Albright. Classmate Samuel Majekodunmi added 20 points, while nearly getting a triple-double with nine assists and eight rebounds. Sophomore Christian Lane tallied 18 points as he went 6-of-8 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range. Senior Jared Rappoport became the fourth Lions starter in double-figures with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while adding four rebounds and two blocks.
 
Lane started on fire for the Lions as he made back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lions a 6-0 lead at the 18:22-mark of the first half. After the Falcons cut the lead down to 6-4, Albright continued to stay hot from the field as they went 6-of-7 from the field on a 13-2 run to go up 19-6 at the 12:42-mark. The Lions then went up 26-11 at the 9:25-mark as they maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the first half. Albright took its largest lead of the half at 33-16 with 3:54 left until halftime on a three-pointer from Majekodunmi. Mesisah made a short 8-0 run to make it a nine-point game at 33-24, but Lane countered with a three-pointer to put the Lions up 12 at halftime, 36-24.
 
The opening minutes of the second half saw each team trade baskets as the Lions used a quick 6-2 run to take a 42-28 lead at the 17:01-mark. Messiah then went on an 11-4 run to cut the Lions lead down to 46-39 at the 13:02-mark of the second half, but Albright slammed the door on the run with a three-pointer from Brown. The Falcons then made their biggest charge of the game as they went on a quick 8-3 run to make it a 56-51 game at the 9:25-mark of the second half. A three-pointer from Majekodunmi started a 7-2 run for the Lions to put them back up 10 points at 63-53 with 6:46 left in the second half. Up nine points at 65-56, Brown made a key three-pointer to put the Lions up 68-56 at the 3:55-mark, and hit his seventh and final one to put the Lions up 74-61 with 2:18 left in the second half. Messiah would get no closer than seven points for the rest of the game as the Lions completed their wire-to-wire victory.
 
The Lions shot 46.8 percent (29-of-62) from the field after going 53.6 in the second half. Albright hit a season-high 14 three-pointers as they went a sizzling 56 percent from beyond the arc, while going just 50 percent (10-of-20) from the free throw line. Albright's starters scored 76 of the team's 82 points on the afternoon. Meanwhile, the Falcons shot 40.6 percent from the field after going 53.1 percent in the second half. Messiah went just 26.9 percent (7-of-26) from beyond the arc and went 71.4 (15-of-21) percent from the free throw line. The Falcons held a slight 40-37 rebounding advantage and got 17 points from the bench.
 
Colin Sareyka, the leading scorer in the MAC Commonwealth, led the Falcons with 20 points in addition to having six assists, four rebounds, and four steals. Matt Glogowski posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds as did Josh Darville with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Albright will return to action on Tuesday, February 12^th as they will travel across town to face rival Alvernia at 8 p.m. as they look to keep postseason hopes alive.