ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – The Albright men's basketball team was taken down 102-72 on the road to a talented Eastern team on Wednesday evening.
With the loss, the Lions fall to 5-8 in conference and 9-12 overall. Meanwhile, the Eagles advance to 10-2 in MAC Commonwealth action and 16-5 overall.
Junior
Robert Mangum led Albright with 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting and a near-perfect 7-for-8 from the charity stripe. First-year
Eric Chamberlain followed with 11 points on 3-for-5 shooting from the floor. Sophomore
Chris Kouemi added ten points off the bench and a season-high nine rebounds.
Eastern jumped out with an 8-2 run to take an early lead. Mangum got the Lions within one following a basket and a successful and-one play. The Eagles pulled ahead 17-7 at the 13:02-mark after tallying nine unanswered points. Junior
Zyon Grant snapped the run with a layup and a pair of free-throws to keep Albright within reach. An even 7-7 run for both teams brought the score to 24-18 in favor of the Eagles at the 9:10-mark. Grant tallied another for the Lions to get them within four. Albright struggled to score the remainder of the first half as Eastern began to control the pace with a big 18-4 run to claim a 42-24 lead with 3:00 left in the first. The Lions attempted to chip away at their deficit with seven-straight points, but Eastern added a basket and buzzer-beater three to hold a 47-31 lead entering the break.
The Eagles kept their foot on the gas in the second half, coming out of the break with a 19-1 run to take a comfortable 66-32 lead. Junior
Jordan Guerrero snapped the run with a pair of free-throws, but Eastern responded with a 12-2 run that gave them their largest lead at 42-points with 11:58 left to play. Albright started to get their footing with a 20-7 run to cut their deficit to 85-56 at the 5:55-mark. Eastern snapped the run with a three-pointer, but the Lions responded with four-straight points from the charity stripe. The two teams traded baskets throughout the remainder of the game, but the Lions were never able to recover from their deficit as the Eagles claimed the 102-72 victory.
Albright shot 22-for-57 (38.6%) from the field, 2-for-10 (20%) from beyond the arc, and 26-for-37 (70.3%) from the charity stripe. The Lions saw 42 points off their bench and notched 38 points in the paint. Meanwhile, Eastern shot 36-for-68 (52.9%) from the floor, 5-for-17 (29.4%) from three-point range, and 25-for-36 (69.4%) from the free-throw line. The Eagles tallied a strong 62 points in the paint, 36 points in transition, and 30 points off Albright turnovers.
The Lions will return to the Bollman Center on Saturday as they host Lebanon Valley at 3 p.m. to celebrate senior day.
