FREDERICK, Md. – The men's basketball team held at nine-point lead heading into halftime and as much as 14 in the second half but were outdueled beyond the arc and fell for the second time this season against Albright 96-87 in Woodsboro Bank Arena on Wednesday night.
Inside the Box Score
Garrett Cox (Glen Allen, VA/Glen Allen) scored 19 points, going 8-for-11 from the field.
Jevon Yarbrough (Williamsport, Md./Williamsport) put 16 points on the stat sheet, only missing two shots.
Karron Mallory (Manchester, Pa./Northeastern) scored 13 and hit three shots from deep.
How it Happened
The Albright gameplan remained rinse and repeat against the Blazers, an awfully similar recipe on how they lost in the Lions' Den just less than a month ago.
The Blue & Grey start fast, acrobatic pump fakes by Yarbrough to get a bucked followed
Garrett Cox's (Glen Allen, VA/Glen Allen) long strides to force himself into a bucket was all true.
However, Chamberlain and Stanton of the opposition looked comfortable when getting a crack at their attempts. No shot looked too tough and there was little duress to respond to the Blazers' hard-earned bucket, which is a trait that makes this team dangerous in any game they play in.
High screens in some games would give enough space for open shots, tonight's windows were a lot smaller and caused shots in close quarters to be off the mark.
Nonetheless, the Blazers grit led at the half and the pursuit to close out the game to even the season series against the third-place foe.'
Hood can hurt you in multiple phases of the game, but with Albright staying clean and out of foul trouble Cox could not pad his physical play in paint as well as Linton could effectively drive and guarantee success. The deficit slowly thinned.
Late some contact on an
Ivan Quijada (Frederick, Md./Frederick High School) three put him at the line and he sunk all three to hold off trouble for a little longer. But the hot hand of Qadir Mitchell kept putting the Blazers under fire and suddenly a 6-0 run from Mitchell himself put Albright ahead.
This was usually the point in the game where Hood's high-flying offense just overpowers its competition, but it seemed like the juice wasn't there. The close out on the three was late and five contributors in black jerseys netted two or more threes.
Ensuing possessions resulted in turnovers from the ball handlers of the Blazers and Albright continued to make them pay via effective shooting. Although it wasn't a down night on shooting, force feeding their stars to make a play down the stretch caused more stress than stardom.
"They (Albirght) controlled the game and they dictated everything in the second half," said
Chad Dickman. "Our execution late was awful, but they were a big reason for that. Even if the offense was disappointing, you're not going to win many games giving up 18 threes and 96 points."
The Lions' move to a 7-2 record in conference and have won their last four games in conference play.
"Something was just off with us tonight and we didn't have the focus or energy that we usually have, said Dickman. "Can't beat good teams going through the motions."
Analysis
Albright made 18 threes at a 48 percent clip compared to Hood's nine and 27 percent.
The Lions scored 22 points off of Hood turnovers.
Hood only took 14 shots from the line.
For the Opponent
Eric Chamberlain led all scorers with 23 with five assists.
Jeremiah Stanton had 20 points hitting six triples.
Notes
Hood falls to 14-6, 7-2 in conference and fall to second place.
Albright remains in third place in the standings.
Up Next
The Blazers stay home and host Widener for their All Hood, All Blue game and their NCAA Banner reveal on Saturday following the women's basketball game with tip-off set for 3 p.m..
