GLENSIDE, Pa. – The Arcadia University men's basketball team opened MAC Commonwealth play Saturday afternoon, falling to Albright 68-67. The Knights fell to 1-4 on the season and 0-1 in conference play, while Albright moved to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Arcadia found itself in front for the opening seven-plus minutes of the contest using a 5-8 shooting performance from the field. A pair of free throws from sophomore Jordan Sanders put the Knights up 12-9 with 12:47 left in the first half. Albright turned the tables as it scored the next 11 points to claim a 20-12 lead with 10:36 remaining in the opening frame. The Lions extended that run to 31-15 over the half's final 12:46 to go to the half with a 40-27 lead.
 
After trailing by as many as 16 in the first half, the Knights nearly completed the comeback using short runs to claw its way back to within a single point in the second half. Fueled by a 6-6 shooting effort, the Knights opened the second stanza on a 13-6 run to bring the deficit to 46-40 four minutes into the period. After a three from junior Brandon Thompson pulled the Knights to within a 54-49 deficit with 9:10 to go, Arcadia scored nine of the next 13 points to cut that deficit to three with just under five minutes to play.
 
Back-to-back buckets from Omari Ringgold put the Lions back up by eight with 3:26 to go before the Knights ended the game on a 12-2 run. Shooting efficiency was key down the stretch as Arcadia went 3-4 from the field and 6-7 from the free throw line over the last 3:16, while the Lions converted just one of three shots from the floor and three of six from the charity stripe. Sophomore Josh Scott converted a pair of free throws with 12 ticks left to pull the Knights within one.  Sanders was called for a foul just after the ensuing inbounds play resulting in Damon Stern converting one of two free throws to put Albright back up two with 11 seconds left.
 
Senior Ryan Kelley drew a blocking foul on Fred Rowles to earn a pair of potential game-tying free throws with four seconds left in regulation. He would make the first of two; however after missing the second the ball went out of bounds on Albright giving the Knights time for one last shot. Sophomore Evan Slone took that final shot, but it went just short off the rim.
 
ARCADIA LEADERS: Kelley led all scorers with 25 points on 10-17 shooting, while pulling in eight rebounds. Scott joined Kelley in double-figures with 17 on 5-8 shooting and 7-11 from the free throw line. Freshman Emmanuel Anderson-Marrow led all players with 10 rebounds off the bench.
 
ALBRIGHT LEADERS: Dejuan Smith netted 15 points to lead the Lions, with Ringgold adding 11. Smith also led the team in rebounding with six, while four different players pulled in four.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:  Arcadia shot 50.0% (25-50) from the floor in the contest including 3-9 from beyond the arc, while converting 14-19 (73.7%) from the free throw line. Albright converted 45.8% (22-48) of its shots from the field, including 8-18 (44.4) from distance, while going 16-24 from the charity stripe. The Knights won the battle in the paint 28-24, however the Lions' bench doubled up the Knights' 28-14. Each team committed 18 turnovers, with Albright scoring 31 points off of them compared to Arcadia's 16.