READING, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team used a late rally to pick up their first conference victory with a 69-68 thrilling overtime win over Widener in the Bollman Center on Wednesday night.
With the win, the Lions advance to 1-3 in MAC Commonwealth play and 5-7 overall. Meanwhile, the Pride fall to 1-4 in conference and 5-7 overall.
Three Lions reached double digit scoring with senior
Isaiah Harris leading the way. Harris tallied a double-double with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting and ten rebounds. Classmate
Sidney Brown netted 18 points as well on 7-for-20 shooting from the field and 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and added three rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Junior
Jordan Guerrero also added a double-double with 11 points behind 4-for-6 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 from three-point range and grabbed a career-high 16 boards. Junior
Sean Miller added eight points on 4-for-12 shooting, eight rebounds, and four assists.
Widener jumped out with a 7-2 run to take an early lead and get the game started. Harris then sparked a 7-0 run for the Lions with back-to-back buckets to give them a 9-7 lead at the 14:31-mark. The teams traded baskets and the Pride took a 14-12 lead at the 12:28-mark. It was then a battle of defenses as neither team was able to score over the course of the next three minutes. The Pride finally ended the drought with a pair of free throws to go up 16-12 with 9:08 left in the first. Brown responded with a three-pointer to jumpstart a 13-2 run to give Albright their largest lead of the half with a 25-18 advantage. Widener closed out the half with a 12-7 run to bring the score to 32-30 in favor of the Lions as they entered the break.
The Pride came out of the half with a 9-2 run to take a 39-34 lead. Miller finally slowed Widener down with a basket to get the Lions within three. The Pride continued their momentum with a 16-4 run to claim their largest lead at 55-40 at the 10:38-mark. The two teams traded baskets but the Lions began to chip away at their deficit with a 20-5 run that tied the game up at 60 with less than two minutes to go in the second half. Widener pulled ahead with a pair of free throws, but Harris answered with the final basket of the half to tie the game up at 62 and send it into extra frames.
Guerrero knocked down a three-pointer to open up the overtime session and give the Lions the lead. A pair of Pride free throws were then matched by a jumper from Brown to keep Albright in the lead with a 67-64 advantage. Widener then went 4-for-6 from the charity stripe to take a one-point lead with 34 seconds left to play. Harris closed out the game with a turnaround jumper with 13 seconds remaining. The Pride were unable to hit another shot as the final buzzer went off and the Lions claimed the 69-68 win.
Albright shot 27-for-75 (36.0%) from the floor, 7-for-24 (29.2%) from beyond the arc, and 8-for-15 (53.3%) from the charity stripe. The Lions held a 51-45 rebound advantage and earned 18 second chance points. Meanwhile, Widener shot 20-for-61 (32.8%) from the field, 5-for-25 (20.0%) from three-point range, and 23-for-28 (82.1%) from the free-throw line. The Pride tallied 30 points in the paint and 12 points off Albright turnovers.
The Lions will return to MAC Commonwealth action on Saturday at 4 p.m. as they travel to Lebanon Valley.
