READING, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team was stunned in overtime by a three-pointer at the buzzer by Alvernia as they fell 83-81 on Friday night in MAC Commonwealth play at the Bollman Center.
With the loss, the Lions drop to 6-3 overall and 5-2 in MAC Commonwealth play. Despite the setback, Albright locked up a top-two finish in the MAC Commonwealth standings to earn a berth in the conference championship game against Lebanon Valley. Meanwhile, the Golden Wolves record stands at 4-2 overall and in conference play.
Prior to tipoff, the Lions honored its six seniors as a part of senior day activities. Junior
Corey Simmons led the Lions in scoring with 20 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the field, and grabbed seven rebounds. Sophomore
Jordan Guerrero recorded a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds while dishing out four assists. Senior
Troy Smoot posted 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench, and sophomore
Robert Mangum registered a career-high 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.
Albright started slow from the field as they did not record a field goal until the 15:32-mark of the first half. Meanwhile, the Golden Wolves opened the game with nine-straight points and built a 12-3 lead at the 15:07-mark. Alvernia continued its run by taking a 24-6 lead at the 12:03-mark of the first half. However, the Lions began finding their groove as they used a 10-3 run to cut the deficit down to 27-16 at the 8:58-mark of the first half. After a pair of free throws gave Alvernia a 30-16 lead with 8:02 left in the first half, the Lions went on a 25-4 run in the final eight minutes to take a 41-33 lead at the half. The wild run began with an 18-2 burst to give the Lions their first lead of the game at the 3:01-mark following a layup from Guerrero. Albright held the Golden Wolves without a field goal for the final 7:03 of the first half.
Senior
Sidney Brown opened the second half with a layup to give the Lions their largest lead of the game at 43-33. Alvernia countered with a 10-1 run to cut the Lions lead down to one point at 44-43 with 14:53 left in the second half. From there, the game took on a back and forth flow as the Golden Wolves were able to take its first lead of the second half at 49-48 with 12:08 remaining in regulation. Albright took back the lead just 20 seconds later, but were unable to gain a lead larger than three points. The Golden Wolves took its largest lead of the half at 61-56 with 6:55 remaining in regulation, but the Lions responded with an 11-2 run to take a 67-63 lead at the 4:35-mark. Alvernia countered again, this time with an 8-2 run to go up 71-69 with 1:57 left in regulation. The Lions tied the game twice in the final minute before the game was forced into overtime after a missed shot on Albright's last possession.
The Lions opened overtime with four quick points to go up 77-73 at the 3:31-mark, and held an 81-77 lead with 1:10 remaining in the extra period. A three-point play on Alvernia's next possession drew the Golden Wolves within one point at 81-80 with 59 seconds remaining. Albright turned it over on the ensuing possession, giving the Golden Wolves a chance to take the lead back. However, senior
Samuel Majekodunmi stole the ball from Alvernia to set off a wild chain of events in the final 20 seconds. Following the steal, Majekodunmi missed a floating jumper that was rebounded by Guerrero. Guerrero found Brown, who had his pass picked off by Avery Walker. Walker managed to corral the ball after initially losing it, and was able to drive the ball down court. Jakob Kelly then drilled the game-winning three-pointer with 0.5 seconds left on the clock from the right side.
The Lions shot 37.7 percent from the field (29-of-77) and 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from three-point range. Albright went 12-of-18 (66.7%) from the free throw line, and held a 52-38 rebounding advantage. Meanwhile, the Golden Wolves went 30-of-78 (38.5%) from the field and 12-of-33 (36.4%) from beyond the arc. Alvernia went 11-of-16 (68.8%) from the free throw line and scored 20 points off 16 Lion turnovers.
Malik Green registered a game-high 34 points for Alvernia behing going 13-of-21 from the field, and 7-of-11 from three-point range. Keon Taylor posted a line of 15 points, six assists, four rebounds, and three blocks.
Albright will now set their sights on the MAC Commonwealth Championship against Lebanon Valley on Thursday, March 18
th.
