READING, Pa. – Men's Basketball (14-9, 10-2 MAC Commonwealth) played their final road game of the regular season against Hood (20-3, 11-1 MAC Commonwealth). After a close first half, a 55-point second half explosion was enough for the Lions to hand the Blazers their first home conference loss of the season.
Qadir Mitchell turned in a game high 29 points which included tying a career best with six three-pointers and five rebounds and tying for the team lead in assists with four and sits on the doorstep of 1000 career points (976).
About midway through the opening half Hood held its largest lead of the game (28-17) before the Lions closed out on a 32-24 run to cut the Blazers' lead to one possession (52-49).
The second half saw the Lions turn up the heat defensively and held the Blazers to only one made three-pointer on nine attempts while Albright shot 46% from downtown.
Jeremiah Stanton finished with four three balls of his own on eight shots for 18 points in addition to five boards and three assists.
Phanique Dupree dominated on both sides of the ball which included tying a season best 25 points along with 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Dupree also ended the night with four blocks and a pair of steals in 37 minutes. The five blocks pushes Dupree over 200 career blocks becoming the first player in program history to reach the milestone.
Joining Dupree in the double-double category was
Chase McWhite via 16 points and 11 rebounds.
With just over 10 minutes to go, the Lions had built up their largest lead of the game (78-68) and held on with clean efficient basketball for arguably their biggest win of the season by a score of 104-98. This is the first time the Lions have scored 100 or more points this season.
Today's victory marks the 10
th in a row for the Lions setting a new program record for longest win streak and puts the team firmly in the driver's seat for the number two seed in the Commonwealth and would be officially clinched with another victory.
Up Next:
The Lions will play their last two of the regular season at the Bollman Center beginning with Stevenson on Wednesday (2/18) at 7:00 pm.
