By Tim Pierce

In front of a packed house and a rowdy student section filling the Bollman Center stands on Saturday afternoon, the Albright College Lions defeated the Lebanon Valley College Dutchman, 86-71. The win was the Lions sixth in a row, all since last losing to Lebanon Valley, 77-67 on the 12th of January.

With the win, the Lions were able to keep pace with Alvernia, who was able to beat Elizabethtown on Saturday. With both teams winning, there is still a deadlock at the top of the Commonwealth Conference standings. Albright also clinched a Commonwealth playoff spot with the victory.

The theme of Saturday afternoon's game dealt was LVC keeping the game within reach, but never being able to climb out of the hole that they dug for themselves as Albright was able to shut the door each time Leb Val attempted to take the lead.

Less than a minute into the second half, Leb Val's Matt O'Brien was able to hit a three point attempt on consecutive possessions, but on each make, the Lions were able to answer, first with a two point field goal by senior Dave Singleton and then a score from behind the arc from junior Kyle Jordan.

With 13:42 left in the second half, Lebanon Valley senior Danny Brooks was able to bully his way into the lane for the layup and added a free throw to complete the three point play, the old fashioned way, cutting Albright's lead to seven points, 59-54.

Albright was able to score right back through with a field goal from Zach Benjamin, coupled with a defensive stop, and a three point dagger from Reuel Moore to put Albright back up by 10.

In the first half, the Red and White used sweet assists from Singleton (on a Jordan jumper) and Pedro Perez (on a Johnathan Amoroso) to build and maintain their lead.

Albright's attack came from a balanced team effort as four Lions scored in double figures for the game. Leading the way for the Red and White was Jordan who had 17 points. Singleton dropped 16 points for the Lions and also pulled down 13 rebounds for the double-double. Perez and junior Sam Marrella were the other two Albright players in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

The Lions will continue the hunt for sole possession of first place in the Commonwealth Conference standings as they travel to face Hood College next Wednesday in Fredrick, Maryland. Tipoff for the crucial conference matchup is set for 8 P.M.