READING, Pa. - Hood College's Trumaine Strickland (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) scored with 25.1 second left to give the Blazers their first lead since the game's opening minutes for an 83-81 win at Albright in Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth men's basketball action. 

Inside the Box Score

• Christopher Smalls (Washington, D.C./St. Andrew's Episcopal) led Hood with 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting, hitting both of his 3-point attempts. The graduate student scored 14 points in the second half as the Blazers came from behind. 
• Ryan Hollwedel (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) scored 17 points, going 6-for-7, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. 
• Jack Fricka (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) and Strickland finished with 10 points apiece. Fricka shot 4-of-7 and Strickland grabbed a team-best six rebounds. 
• Garrison Linton (New Market, Md./Oakdale) dished out five assists. 

How it Happened

• Hood trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half and still faced a 10-point deficit when a 10-2 run pulled the Blazers within 74-72. Behind 72-62, Strickland scored before Soren Almquist (Oakton, Va./James Madison) connected on back-to-back 3-pointers. Smalls hit the bucket that cut the Lions' advantage to just two with 5:51 to go. 
• Albright inched its lead back to five points when Jordan Guerrero hit a pair of free throws to make it 81-76 with 3:08 left. 
• Hood's defense took over from there, holding Albright to 0-for-7 down the stretch. 
• The Lions still led 81-80 when Hood inbounded the ball after a turnover with 34.6 seconds left. Strickland went end-to-end and split a pair of defenders in the paint for the go-ahead layup, just his second field goal of the day. 
• At the other end, the Blazers needed one more stand from their defense and got it. Hollwedel rejected Robert Mangrum on the baseline with 12 seconds on the clock. Almquist then blocked an attempt by Guerrero of the inbounds play. 
• Smalls was fouled and hit a free throw before a last second shot by Markus Bradley-Lowry was off the mark. 
• Prior to Strickland's game-winner, Hood had not led since holding a 5-2 advantage with 17:38 left in the first half. After that, the Lions took control with an 18-5 run, including eight points from reserve Jeremiah Stanton, to take a 20-10 lead with 11:20 to play in the period. 
• After Hollwedel pulled the Blazers within 23-19, Albright embarked on a 13-4 run for its biggest lead to that point, 36-23, after a 3-pointer by Guerrero at the 3:17 mark. 
• Hood hit its final five field goals of the half, using a 13-6 run fueled by 11 points by Hollwedel and Smalls, to cut the deficit to 42-36 at halftime. Hollwedel kept the Blazers in the game with 14 first-half points, going 5-for-5 with three 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. 
• The Lions opened the second half with a 12-5 run over the first four minutes to match their biggest lead, 54-41. 

Analysis

• After allowing Albright to shoot 50 percent in the first half, Hood held the Lions to 39 percent in the second. The Blazers shot 48 percent in the game, while Albright ended the day at 44. 
• Hood went 10-for-21 from 3-point range (48 percent) and held the Lions to 4-of-16 in the second half as they finished at 39 percent. 
• The Blazers overcame a 44-27 rebounding deficit by turning 23 Albright turnovers into 35 points. Hood turned the ball over only 13 times, compared to 23 misplays by the Lions. 

For the Opponent

• Two of Albright's top three scorers came from a second unit that scored 41 points. Stanton led the Lions with 15 points off the bench, while Guerrero had 12 points and 12 boards. 
• Mangrum added 13 points. 

Notes

• Hood improved to 5-3 and 2-0 in the MAC Commonwealth with the win, while Albright dipped to 3-4 and 1-1. 

Up Next
The Blazers host Eastern in a rematch of last season's conference championship game on December 6 at 6 p.m.