READING, Pa. - The Albright College men's basketball team (5-10, 2-5 MAC Commonwealth) welcomed Eastern University (11-4, 4-2 MAC Commonwealth) to Reading this evening and the visiting Eagles took the game over the Lions 70-55.
The visiting Eagles jumped out to a 6-0 lead over the Lions. The early advantage was quickly erased by Albright going an 9-0 run themselves to retake the early lead.
After the offensive started strong for both teams the defense ramped on both sides as the first half progressed. A stretch in the first half from 15 minutes to 10 minutes saw only nine total points combined from both teams.
Albright and Eastern played to an even first half with neither team being able to separate themselves in the game. The Eagles held a slim halftime advantage over the Lions 33-27.
Chris Kouemi poured in a game high 13 first half points to pace the Lions. Jeremiah Stanton chipped in with six points and four assists in the first half.
To begin the second half Albright and Eastern traded buckets. The Lions cut their deficit down to four on multiple occasions throughout the early going of the second half. However Albright could not find the stop they needed on the defensive end to regain the lead.
Eastern found their rhythm late in the second half to pull away from Albright. The Eagles stretched their lead to 16 points with five minutes left and ultimately won the game, 70-55.
Kouemi poured in a game and career high 17 points to pace the Lions offensively. Kouemi enjoyed an all-around nice game adding eight rebounds and two steals to his final stat line.
Robert Mangum scored in double figures for Albright with 13 and Jeremiah Stanton filled up the stat sheet registering seven points, three rebounds and seven assists. The seven assists marks a new career high for the first year point guard.
UP NEXT:
The Albright College men's basketball team will have a full week off before the Lions return to the court. Albright will head to Widener University on Wednesday, January 18. The game is slated for a 6 p.m. first tip.
