READING, Pa. – Sophomore DeJuan Smith scored all 18 of his game high points in the second half and Albright notched its third-straight victory with a 60-48 MAC Commonwealth win over Messiah on Saturday in the Bollman Center.
Smith was 0-for-1 from the floor in the first half as the Lions trailed the Falcons 22-21 at the intermission. He was 7-of-10 from the floor in the second half, including making 2-of-3 from the three-point line, to pace the Lions. He also added six rebounds, five steals and two assists.
Junior Omari Ringgold finished with 12 points, while Evan Ward, Calvert Gantz and Vince Lombardi each scored eight points for Albright.
It marked just the second time this season that the Lions have overcome a halftime deficit as they entered the game with a 1-12 mark in games in which they trailed at the break.
Albright, which improved to 9-13 overall and 6-7 in league play, topped 50.0 percent shooting from the floor for the second straight game. The Lions finished shooting 51.2 percent from the field, which included a 54.5 percent effort in the second half.
The Lions held Messiah to just 48 points and 32.1 percent shooting from the field. It marked the lowest point total allowed by the Lions this season.
Messiah, which dropped to 6-15 overall and 3-9 in conference play, was led by Neil Murren who scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Logan Long added nine points, while Josh Clippinger finished with eight points and five rebounds.
Albright opened the second half on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good.
Gantz hit a layup to ignite the run and Smith scored a pair of layups to push the Albright lead to 29-22 with 16:06 to play in the game.
A pair of free throws by Matt Hess helped the Falcons climb to within 31-26, but Smith answered with a three-pointer to up the Lions lead to 34-26 at the 14:06 mark of the second half.
A free throw by Jimmy Brackett brought Messiah to within 34-27, but a dunk by Evan Dunn and a three-pointer by Smith extended the lead to 39-27 with 11:48 to play.
The Falcons got within 44-35 on a jumper by Long, but the Lions responded with a 7-1 run, which included a three-pointer by Lombardi, to take their largest lead of the game at 51-36 with 4:42 left to play.
Messiah was unable to get the deficit under 10 points for the remainder of the game and the Lions cleared the bench with a minute to go in regulation.
Albright built an eight-point lead in the first half, but the Falcons closed the first period on a 9-0 run to take a 22-21 lead into the intermission.
Albright returns to action on Wednesday (Feb. 10) when it visits Lycoming for a MAC Commonwealth game at 8 p.m.