BAYAMON, PR. - The Albright men's basketball team (5-3) erased a seven point halftime deficit against the Birmingham-Southern College Panthers 74-72 (Ala.) (4-6) in the opening game of the Puerto Rico Classic. Albright's win today gives the team three wins out of their past four games and their second win this season on a neutral floor.
Albright returned to Puerto Rico for the first time since the 2019-20 season. In 2019 the Lions went 1-1 during their time in Puerto Rico. Tonight's game was the first ever meeting against Birmingham-Southern College in program history.
After 20 minutes of play, Albright found themselves down by seven 42-35. Albright trailed by as many as 12 in the first half. A pair of Hasson Massenburg layups at the end of the half closed the gap for Albright and put the Lions in a good spot heading into the second half.
Eric Chamberlain paced the offense in the first half scoring nine points. Chamberlain started the game with his trademark defense earning a steal and converting the steal into two fast break points. Massenburg ended with seven first half points.
Just five minutes into the second half, Albright climbed back into the game to tie Birmingham-Southern College at 46-46. Albright was able to maintain a 3-4 point throughout the second half thanks to 51.5% shooting from the floor over the final 20 minutes.
After the game was tied at 46-46, the Lions would not trail again for the remainder of the game. With 1:45 left in the game a Qadir Mitchell layup pushed the Lions lead back to three 71-68. The Panthers answered with two free throws getting to within one 71-70.
Massenburg closed out the game for Albright by making a layup with 45 seconds left to go up 73-70 and then hitting a clutch free throw to give Albright the lead for good, winning the game 74-72.
Massenburg played his best game in an Albright uniform this evening going for a game high 17 points. Massenburg filled up the box score tonight going for seven rebounds, four assists and a block. Chamberlain, Mitchell and Chris Kouemi all scored in double figures this evening with Chamberlain going for 15, Mitchell 10 and Kouemi 11.
Albright outscored Birmingham-Southern College in bench points (30-21) and points in the paint (44-34) on their way to victory.
Up Next:
Albright will look to pick up their second win in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, December 20 against Augsburg (Minn.). The game will start at 12:00 p.m. EST and 1:00 p.m. AST.
