READING, Pa. - The Hood College men's basketball team clinched a bid to the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Tournament with an 82-65 win at Albright. 

Inside the Box Score

• Mason Wang led the Blazers with 16 points and added five rebounds, six assists and three steals. Nearly half of his points came at the free throw line, where he finished 7 of 8. 
• Jared Ruiz matched his output with a season-high 16 points. The senior came off the bench to hit 6 of 10 field goals and recorded four steals. 
• Kobe Butler scored a career-high 14 points. The junior shot 6 of 8 overall and 2 for 3 from 3-point range to go along with three steals. 
• Michael Riley scored 13 points and Ian Eversull notched a career-best six assists. 
• Hood hit 53 percent of its field goals, including 10 for 23 on 3-point attempts (44 percent). 

How it Happened

• After Albright scored the game's first five points, the Blazers went on an 18-6 run. Hood took its first lead on Butler's first 3-pointer of the night to make it 10-8 with 15:08 to go in the half. 
• A jumper by Blake Thompson made it 21-19 with 7:51 on the first half clock before the Blazers rattled off a 10-0 run. Five different players scored during the stretch, resulting in a 31-19 lead after two Evan Wang free throws with 4:11 remaining in the period. Hood stretched the lead to as large as 13 points before settling for a 39-29 halftime advantage.
• Sidney Brown tried to keep Albright in the game early in the second half with three 3-pointers in the first five minutes to counteract eight combined points by the Wang brothers to make it 47-38. Butler scored with 14:52 left in the contest, starting an 8-0 run for the Blazers. Ruiz scored less than two minutes later to give Hood a 17-point lead, 55-38. 
• The Blazers' lead was never fewer than 12 the rest of the way and ballooned as big as 23 points on a layup by Riley that made it 79-56 with 3:17 remaining. 

Notes

• The bid to the playoffs is the first for the Blazers since the 2014-15 season. Hood improved to 15-7 overall and 9-4 in the conference. 
• Brown hit six 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 20 points. Despite his evening, Hood held the Lions' outside shooting in check, holding the Lions to 12 of 38 (32 percent) behind the arc. 
• Samuel Majekodunmi had 15 points. 
• Hood had 12 steals in the game, resulting in a 23-7 edge in fastbreak points. 

Up Next

The Blazers, winners of eight of their last nine games, head to Lycoming on February 9 for a 3 p.m. contest.