READING, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team used a balanced scoring attack to defeat Eastern 78-72 in MAC Commonwealth play on Monday night at the Bollman Center.
 
With the win, the Lions improve to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the Eagles fall to 0-3 overall and 0-3 in MAC Commonwealth play.
 
Four players scored in double-figures for the Lions on Monday night against the Eagles. Sophomore Jordan Guerrero came close to a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds. Guerrero went 10-of-11 from the free throw line and grabbed four steals. Junior Corey Simmons matched Guerrero with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, while grabbing eight rebounds and three blocks. Senior Samuel Majekodunmi posted 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while classmate Troy Smoot posted a line of 10 points, four assists, and two steals.
 
The Lions ripped away an early 3-2 Eagles lead with eight-straight points to go up 10-3 at the 14:37-mark of the first half. Albright worked its way out to a 13-5 lead at the 12:54-mark before the Eagles drew within 15-10 just over two minutes later. The Lions used a 12-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 27-12 with 7:07 left in the first half behind going a perfect 5-of-5 during the stretch. However, the Eagles battled back with an 18-7 run over a span of 4:24 to cut the Lions lead down to 34-30 with 1:23 left in the first half. Guerrero closed the final minute out by scoring the Lions final six points to put Albright up 40-32 at the half.
 
After the Eagles scored the first basket of the second half, the Lions used an 8-2 run to take a 48-36 lead at the 16:25-mark. Eastern rallied with six-straight points to make it a 48-42 game before Albright countered again with a 7-2 run to go up 55-44 at the 13:19-mark of the second half. Eastern refused to go away as they scored seven-straight points, and held the Lions scoreless for 5:03 to bring the deficit down to 55-51 at the 8:56-mark. Much like they had done before in the contest, the Lions slammed the door on the Eagles rally with nine-straight points as they grabbed a 64-51 lead with 6:28 left in regulation. The run was sparked by a three-pointer by sophomore Sean Miller at the 7:26-mark as the shot clock was about to expire. Eastern would get no closer than six points during the remainder of the contest.
 
Albright went 26-of-54 (48.1%) from the field and 6-of-15 (40%) from beyond the arc. The Lions went a solid 20-of-24 (83.3%) from the free throw line, and held a 39-28 rebounding advantage that led to a 17-8 mark in second chance points. Meanwhile, the Eagles shot 39.4 percent (28-of-71) from the field and 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from beyond the arc. Eastern went 7-of-12 (58.3%) from the free throw line and scored 21 points off 23 Lions turnovers.
 
Joshua Grant led the Eagles with 16 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals off the bench. Kaeshawn Ward posted 15 points and a game-high six steals, while Terron Bacon added 11 points and three rebounds.
 
The Lions will return to action on Thursday, March 4^th as they will travel to face Stevenson for a 7 p.m. tip-off.