The Bulldogs (7-3 overall) seemed to have total control of the game in the first half as they opened up a 15-point lead, 36-21, with 5:58 left in the opening period. Albright (6-4 overall) answered with a 13-4 run over the last 5:58 to cut the margin to six points, 40-34, at the half.
In the second half after the Lions took a three-point lead, 54-51, with 12:10 remaining but the Bulldogs countered with a 10-0 run to take a seven-point lead at 61-54. A three-pointer by senior Michael Venafra pushed the lead back up to five points, 66-61, before AC answered with a 14-0 run that gave the home team a nine-point lead with 1:48 left.
Venafra hit his sixth trey to cut the lead to four points with 58 ticks left, but Albright knocked down 6-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the seven point win.
The Lions shot 50.0 percent from the field and held a 19-point edge on the foul line as Albright connected on 30-of-40 free throw attempts. DSU shot just 14 free throws and shot 43.5 percent from the field, while committing 18 turnovers. DeSales was playing without starting forward David Spadt.
Venafra continued his torrid shooting with 24 points on a 6-of-9 effort from beyond the arc. Fellow senior Kyle Koch added 16 points to round out DSU’s double figure scorers. Junior Drew Christman added eight points off the bench and senior Kevin Welsh, freshman Eddie Ohlson and sophomore Steve Kriczky each added seven points.
The Lions got 29 points from Trevor Deeter on 11-of-14 shooting and 21 points from Ben Gallagher. Greg Conroy totaled 17 tallies on 11-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe.