READING, Pa. – The Arcadia University men's basketball team closed the first half with a 22-5 run to take a 36-16 lead at the half on its way to a 66-46 Commonwealth Conference victory at Albright College Wednesday night. The Knights (7-8, 3-3 CC) had a balanced attack in the game with five players scoring at least nine points.
Neither team managed much offensively in the early stages of the game and the Lions (6-8, 2-4 CC) held a narrow 11-10 lead following a basket from sophomore guard Omari Ringgold eight and a half minutes into the contest. Arcadia took the lead for good just over a minute later on a bucket from sophomore forward
Alex Cohen made it 12-11, which started the Knights surge that closed out the period.
Arcadia scored 10 straight points starting with back-to-back baskets from Cohen, and scored 10 in a row to close the first half. That second burst started with a pair of jumpers from senior forward
Khalil Curtis and was capped off by back-to-back threes from senior forward
Joe Brown in the final minute of play in the frame.
The Knights led by double-digits the rest of the way, and led by as many as 23 after senior forward
Jose Figueroa's layup gave Arcadia a 63-40 lead with 2:29 left in the game.
Brown finished with 12 points and six boards, while Figueroa had a nearly identical line with 11 points and six boards. Sophomore guard
Ryan Kelley had 10 points with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, while senior guard
Torrell Candelaria and junior guard
John Landro added nine points each.
Ringgold dropped in a game-high 17 points to lead Albright, while sophomore guard Jalen Harris and freshman guard Gilberto Benz were the Lions' next leading scorers with seven points each.
The Knights shot 49 percent (28-57) from the field, while forcing 18 turnovers that translated into 25 points and holding a 38-28 advantage in the paint. Arcadia out-rebounded Albright 36-20 and had a 13-5 advantage on the offensive glass. Albright shot 43 percent (17-40) from the field and was just 2 of 10 from downtown.
Arcadia will next travel to Messiah College Saturday for a 5 p.m. Commonwealth Conference contest.
