FREDERICK, Md. – The Albright Lions men's basketball team dropped a 94-83 road contest to Hood on Saturday afternoon in MAC Commonwealth play.
With the loss, the Lions fall to 10-8 overall and 5-4 in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the Blazers improve to 12-6 overall and move into a tie with the Lions with a 5-4 conference mark.
Two Lions led the way by scoring over 20 points with junior
Samuel Majekodunmi scoring a team-high 23 points. Majekodunmi flirted with a triple-double as well with nine rebounds and a season-high seven assists. Classmate
Sidney Brown recorded 21 points behind going 7-of-15 from three-point range, while grabbing four rebounds and two steals. Brown matched his single-game program record with the 15 three-point attempts, and tallied the most three-pointers made since the 2016-17 season. Junior
Troy Smoot posted 17 points behind going 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, and grabbed six rebounds along with two steals.
Each team traded a pair of three-pointers to open the contest before the Blazers went on an 11-2 run to take a 17-8 lead at the 15:07-mark of the first half. Hood went 5-of-6 from the field in that stretch, while the Lions went just 1-of-6. The Blazers extended its lead to 21-11 at the 12:41-mark until the Lions came back with five-straight points to cut the deficit down to 21-16 with 9:46 left in regulation. However, turnovers began to add up for the Lions as Hood went on an 11-5 run to take a 32-21 lead at the 7:45-mark of the first half. Albright was forced into four turnovers during that stretch of play. A three-pointer from Majekodunmi pulled the Lions within seven points at 35-28 with 5:44 left in the first half, but the Blazers answered with seven-straight points to go up 42-28 at the 4:26-mark. Albright was unable to get the deficit under double-digits for the rest of the first half as the Blazers took a 50-33 lead into halftime after scoring the final seven points.
The Blazers continued first half momentum as they jumped out to a 56-36 with 17:23 left in regulation following a pair of three-pointers to open the second half. They maintained that advantage out to 60-40 at the 15:30-mark before eight-straight points from Majekodunmi pulled the Lions within 12 points at 60-48 with 13:39 left in regulation. However, eight-straight points from the Blazers put them up 69-48 at the 10:48-mark, their largest lead of the game. Hood held a 73-53 advantage at the 9:10-mark until the Lions closed back in with an 11-3 run to make it a 76-64 at the 5:58-mark. Unfortunately for the Lions, they were unable to continue the run as the Blazers held a double-digit lead until the 1:29-mark of the second half. Albright made a late charge with nine-straight points to cut the Blazers lead down to 86-80 with 1:13 left in the second half. The Blazers slammed any thoughts of a comeback with eight-straight points to seal the win.
Albright shot 39.3 percent (24-of-61) from the field, and 15-of-35 (42.9%) from beyond the arc. The Lions shot 20-of-28 (71.4%) from the free throw line, and scored 33 points off 23 Blazer turnovers. Albright scored a season-low 16 points in the paint as well. Meanwhile, the Blazers shot 40.9 percent (27-of-66) from the field and 10-of-29 (34.5%) from three-point range. Hood went 30-of-39 (76.9%) from the free throw line, and scored 33 points off 30 Lion turnovers. The Blazers also held a slight 45-40 rebounding advantage.
Mason Wang, the second leading scorer in the MAC Commonwealth, finished with a game-high 27 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Tyler Evans followed with 20 points behind going 7-of-11 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds.
The Lions return to action on Wednesday, January 29
th as they will host Arcadia at 6 p.m.
