By Jimmy McCumber

The Albright College men's basketball team ripped off a 31-8 run in the first half and held off Messiah in the second half, defeating the defending Commonwealth champions 74-62 on the road Saturday.

Junior Kyle Jordan led the way with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. Senior Dave Singleton filled the box score again with 13 rebounds, eight points and seven assists.

Also in double-figures for the Lions were Sam Marrella and Andre Marshall, who scored 10 points each and went a combined 5-of-8 from long range. Junior Pedro Perez had 14 points and six boards.

After Zac Hoy's three-pointer gave Messiah an early 12-9 lead, Marrella answered immediately from behind the arc to kick-start Albright's 22-4 run.

Reuel Moore was knocked down while making a trey, converting the rare four-point play to put Albright up 17-12. Perez finished off a Singleton pass on the break, then sank a three-pointer to push the gap to 22-14.

Jordan got a nice roll midway through the first half, forcing a Messiah timeout with the score 24-14 Lions. Perez soon finished off another Singleton fast break to make it 28-16. Marshall then canned a three-pointer as Albright surged to a 31-16 lead (and a 22-4 stretch).

Messiah finally scored but Marrella transitioned quickly and pulled up for three, putting the Lions up 34-18. Singleton's and-one with 4:18 left made it 37-20, and Jordan scored in transition to push the gap to 40-20.

Albright's lead was down to 44-30 at the break after Brad Bolen hit a three-pointer at the buzzer. Bolen later answered a Jordan fast break bucket early in the second half to make it 52-36 Lions.

Messiah rallied at this point, going on a 6-0 run that was capped by Taylor Groff's three-pointer, cutting the deficit to single-digits. Cornell Mickens finally broke an Albright slump of 5:11 without a field goal, but Derek Mosley soon had Messiah within seven at 55-48.

Bolen sank another trey with 9:37 to go, bringing the Falcons to within four at 55-51 and forcing the Lions to call timeout. Bolen then hit a two-point bucket out of the huddle to make it a one-possession game.

Following a pair of Jordan free throws, Marshall pulled the trigger on a 25-footer to put Albright up 60-53. He connected again from long range on the next possession to restore a double-digit Lion advantage.

With 3:50 to go, Jordan sank a big corner three to make it 66-57 and keep Messiah at bay. Perez followed with a triple on the next possession, off a Marrella steal. 

Bolen finished with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting for Messiah. Hoy added 12 points, while Groff pulled down nine rebounds.

Albright improves to 7-1, 3-1 on the season and travels to face Stevenson next Saturday in another Commonwealth Conference game.