READING, Pa.—The Hood College men's basketball team (8-5, 2-4 Commonwealth) was beaten in a tightly contested matchup to Albright College (12-2, 5-2 Commonwealth) in conference action Wednesday evening. In a game that saw eleven lead changes and eight ties, neither team was able to pull away from the other. Both teams were even until the end, where Albright scored the last eight points of the game en route to the win.

Senior forward Trey Quinn paced the Blazers with 14 points on 5-10 shooting. Quinn also snagged four rebounds and dished out four assists in the losing effort. Junior guard Justin Bowens had an efficient night going 6-13 from the floor for 13 points. Senior forward Justin Stone also had a quality game, recording a double-double of ten points and ten rebounds. It was Stone's tenth career double-double. Albright had three players in double-figures and was led by the 13 points and nine rebounds of forward Kyle Jordan.

Neither side was really able to establish much of a rhythm offensively in the first half, with the Blazers shooting just 25 percent in the half. The two teams combined to go 0-10 from three in the first as defense was the story for the first 20 minutes. Hood started out pretty well from the floor, as they took a 10-8 lead off back to back Quinn and Stone layups at the 12:41 mark of the first half. However, the Blazers were only able muster eight points the rest of the half, giving way for the Lions to seize momentum and take a 25-18 lead into the break.

Both teams were able to find their offensive mojo in the second half and put in a very entertaining second stanza. Hood got right back into the game with a 16-5 run over the course of the first seven minutes of the second half to seize a 34-33 lead. In the run junior guard Cameron Cook hit his 176th three of his career, which tied him for the most three's in a career with former Blazer great Ryan Junghans. Albright would not deter though and would go on a 16-6 run of their own that was capped with a Calvert Gantz layup to give the Lions their biggest lead of the game at 49-40.

Hood would answer with another run of their own as they scored eight straight points to bring the game back to one point at 49-48 with 6:45 remaining. Bowens would then hit a big three for Hood to tie the game at 53 and junior forward Jeremy Veres gave Hood its first lead of the half with just 3:09 remaining off a nice layup inside. Bowens then hit another clutch layup at the 2:27 mark to give Hood a 57-55 lead, but this would wind being the Blazers last lead of the contest. Albright clamped down on defense and did not allow the Blazers to score in the final two minutes, as a Dave Singleton jumper gave the Lions the winning basket with .45 seconds remaining. Bowens had a chance to take the lead late, but his three point shot was off the mark and Albright went 4-4 from the line down the stretch to secure the 63-57 win.

The Blazers return home this Saturday for a crucial set of conference matchups in the next three weeks. Hood plays five of its next six games at BB&T Arena, including their game this Saturday against Widener. This home stretch is vital for the Blazers, as they look to climb the standings in the very competitive Commonwealth conference. The game this weekend against Widener is set to begin at 3 p.m.