READING, Pa. – Junior Corey Simmons registered a career-high 28 points as the Albright men's basketball team defeated Delaware Valley 70-54 on Friday night in MAC crossover play at the Bollman Center.
 
With the win, the Lions improve to 2-2 overall as they bounced back from last night's 66-61 setback to the Aggies on the road. Meanwhile, the Aggies of the MAC Freedom fall to 1-4 overall.
 
Simmons led the way with a near perfect line from the field as he went 12-of-13, and completed a double-double with 10 rebounds. Senior Samuel Majekodunmi was the only other Lion that scored in double-figures with 12 points, and nearly recorded a double-double with nine rebounds. Sophomore Robert Mangum added eight points and six rebounds off the bench, while senior Sidney Brown recorded five steals, four assists, and three points.
 
Both teams traded baskets to open the game as the Lions jumped out to an 8-4 lead at the 16:38-mark behind four points from Simmons. The Lions went up 12-6 at the 15:21-mark of the first half following back-to-back layups before going scoreless for the next 6:48. Fortunately for the Lions, the Aggies were unable to take the lead from Albright as they pulled within 12-11 at the 13:22-mark. The score stayed 12-11 for 4:49 before Magum ended both streaks with a free throw at the 8:33-mark. The Aggies pulled ahead 15-13 at the 7:50-mark with back-to-back jumpers before Mangum gave the Lions the lead back at 17-15 with a pair of layups. Following an Aggies basket to tie the score at 17 at the 6:03-mark, the Lions closed first half on a 15-2 run to go up 32-19 at halftime. Albright scored 12-straight points in the run along with Simmons scoring 13 of the 15 points. Delaware Valley was held to go 1-of-10 from the field during that stretch.
 
The Lions picked up right where they left off in the second half as they scored seven-straight points to go up 39-19 at the 17:42-mark. Albright continued to control the game as they maintained a 20-point lead at the 13:40-mark of the second half following a layup from Majekodunmi. Delaware Valley was able to pull within 14 points at 48-34 at the 11:16-mark, but the Lions responded with six-straight points of their own that was capped by a three-pointer from senior Troy Smoot. A layup from Simmons gave the Lions their largest lead of the game at 56-35 with 8:27 left in regulation. The Aggies made one last charge at the Lions with a 13-3 run to cut the Albright lead down to 59-48 at the 3:52-mark, but they would get no further as the Lions worked their lead back up to as many as 19 points in the final minutes.
 
Albright shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field despite going just 2-of-18 (11.1%) from three-point range. The Lions went 16-of-26 (61.5%) from the free throw line, and held a commanding 43-29 rebounding advantage that led to an 18-6 advantage in second chance points. Meanwhile, the Aggies shot 37.1 percent (23-of-62) from the field, and just 4-of-18 (22.2%) from three-point range. Delaware Valley went 4-of-11 (36.4%) from the free throw line and forced 21 Lions turnovers.
 
Thomas Ididapo paced the Aggies offense with a near double-double of 19 points and nine rebounds. Matt Paulus was held to just nine points after leading all scorers the night before with 21 points. Pernell Ghee recorded seven points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
 
The Lions will return to action on Monday, March 1^st as they will host Eastern at 7 p.m. in MAC Commonwealth play.