Jan 30, 2013
By Jimmy McCumber
The Albright College men's basketball team held off local rival Alvernia and moved into a tie for first place on Wednesday with a thrilling 57-54 road victory.
Albright (17-3, 10-3) and Alvernia (15-4, 10-3) now share first place in the Commonwealth Conference, two games clear of the field with five games left in the regular season.
After Alvernia's Lamont Clark drove for two to bring the hosts to within four, the Crusaders got the ball back but Kyle Jordan took a big charge on Brian Parker with two minutes remaining. Albright's Dave Singleton isolated for a jumper with one minute left but it just barely rimmed out.
After Singleton tacked on one free throw to make it 56-51 with 38 seconds left, Khalil Bennett drained a quick three-pointer at the other end. Reuel Moore made one-of-two, and Clark's three-point buzzer beater attempt hit the front rim with a chance to force overtime.
A packed and boisterous crowd of 1,712 fans watched the tense contest that ended with five of 10 athletes on the floor playing with four fouls.
Singleton finished with a double-double, totaling 12 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan had 11 points and six boards, while senior center Zach Benjamin added six points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
Jordan had a nice up-fake inside to open the second half scoring and give the Lions a 28-22 lead. Sam Marrella soon sank a three-pointer from dead center to push the gap to double-digits at 33-22.
Alvernia's first point of the second half came with 14:17 to play, on a free throw from Parker. Parker then converted a three-point play for the Crusaders' first field goal in the opening 6:34 of the second half, cutting the deficit to 37-26.
Clark scored to bring the Crusaders closer at 41-34, but a huge three-pointer from Moore, right in front of the Albright bench, restored a double-digit lead at 44-34.
A great one-handed tip-in from Benjamin off a Cornell Mickens miss made it 49-39 Lions, but Charles Cooper hit a second-chance three with under four minutes to play. Albright called timeout, leading just 53-47 with the home crowd going wild. The Alvernia student section exploded again when Terrance Bridgers threw down a thunderous dunk with three minutes left to make it 55-49.
Both teams struggled to get going in a tight first half that featured 19 fouls and just 17 made field goals. Albright led 26-22 at the break.
Alvernia's Chris Davis opened with a three-pointer to beat the shot clock buzzer, and the hosts led 5-0 before Benjamin got Albright on the board with a hook shot.
Jordan was left open and drained a rare triple (just his second trey attempt of the year) to tie the game at 5-5, then gave his side the lead with a spot-up jumper.
Singleton's pull-up jumper soon made it 11-8 Albright, and Pedro Perez took a charge at the other end. Midway through the first half, Calvert Gantz checked into the game and immediately hit a shot to tie the game at 15-15.
Perez hit a pair of three-pointers to open up a 21-15 Albright advantage. The Crusaders kept it close heading into the break, including a great dump pass from to Davis to Clark in the final two minutes of the period.
Alvernia was led by Clark and Parker, with a game-high 17 points each. Parker had a double-double with 12 rebounds.
Albright will face another rival when the Lions welcome Lebanon Valley to the Bollman Center on Saturday.
The Albright College men's basketball team held off local rival Alvernia and moved into a tie for first place on Wednesday with a thrilling 57-54 road victory.
Albright (17-3, 10-3) and Alvernia (15-4, 10-3) now share first place in the Commonwealth Conference, two games clear of the field with five games left in the regular season.
After Alvernia's Lamont Clark drove for two to bring the hosts to within four, the Crusaders got the ball back but Kyle Jordan took a big charge on Brian Parker with two minutes remaining. Albright's Dave Singleton isolated for a jumper with one minute left but it just barely rimmed out.
After Singleton tacked on one free throw to make it 56-51 with 38 seconds left, Khalil Bennett drained a quick three-pointer at the other end. Reuel Moore made one-of-two, and Clark's three-point buzzer beater attempt hit the front rim with a chance to force overtime.
A packed and boisterous crowd of 1,712 fans watched the tense contest that ended with five of 10 athletes on the floor playing with four fouls.
Singleton finished with a double-double, totaling 12 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan had 11 points and six boards, while senior center Zach Benjamin added six points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
Jordan had a nice up-fake inside to open the second half scoring and give the Lions a 28-22 lead. Sam Marrella soon sank a three-pointer from dead center to push the gap to double-digits at 33-22.
Alvernia's first point of the second half came with 14:17 to play, on a free throw from Parker. Parker then converted a three-point play for the Crusaders' first field goal in the opening 6:34 of the second half, cutting the deficit to 37-26.
Clark scored to bring the Crusaders closer at 41-34, but a huge three-pointer from Moore, right in front of the Albright bench, restored a double-digit lead at 44-34.
A great one-handed tip-in from Benjamin off a Cornell Mickens miss made it 49-39 Lions, but Charles Cooper hit a second-chance three with under four minutes to play. Albright called timeout, leading just 53-47 with the home crowd going wild. The Alvernia student section exploded again when Terrance Bridgers threw down a thunderous dunk with three minutes left to make it 55-49.
Both teams struggled to get going in a tight first half that featured 19 fouls and just 17 made field goals. Albright led 26-22 at the break.
Alvernia's Chris Davis opened with a three-pointer to beat the shot clock buzzer, and the hosts led 5-0 before Benjamin got Albright on the board with a hook shot.
Jordan was left open and drained a rare triple (just his second trey attempt of the year) to tie the game at 5-5, then gave his side the lead with a spot-up jumper.
Singleton's pull-up jumper soon made it 11-8 Albright, and Pedro Perez took a charge at the other end. Midway through the first half, Calvert Gantz checked into the game and immediately hit a shot to tie the game at 15-15.
Perez hit a pair of three-pointers to open up a 21-15 Albright advantage. The Crusaders kept it close heading into the break, including a great dump pass from to Davis to Clark in the final two minutes of the period.
Alvernia was led by Clark and Parker, with a game-high 17 points each. Parker had a double-double with 12 rebounds.
Albright will face another rival when the Lions welcome Lebanon Valley to the Bollman Center on Saturday.