Albright put five scorers in double figures, and needed every one of them, as Lincoln's Kyle Myrick went off for a career-high 44 points. Myrick was 19-37 from the field, but just 2-8 from beyond the arc. He also made four of five free throws. Sophomore Taylor Steltz had a career-best 20 points to lead Albright, followed by senior Trevor Deeter with 19, Murphy with 16, junior Matt Kieselowsky with 12, and senior Andy Winebrenner with 11. Deeter also ripped down a game-high 15 rebounds for his third double-double in as many games.
Lincoln came out on fire at the opening tip, running out to a quick 10-2 lead and extending the advantage to 22-8 five minutes in. Myrick's first three of the night gave the Lincoln Lions their largest lead of the night, 29-14, with 12:40 left in the half. Albright was able to stop the bleeding, keeping Lincoln in their sights over the next seven minutes as Lincoln's lead floated between 10 and 14 points. A Lee Walter lay-up off a nifty assist from Kieselowsky pulled Albright with eight, 42-34, with 4:05 showing on the clock. Albright allowed only six Lincoln points over the final five minutes of the half, and a three from junior Greg Conroy just before the halftime buzzer pulled the Lions within six at the break, 46-40.
It would be Albright who got out to a quick start in the second half, as the Lions outscored Lincoln 8-2 in the first two minutes, tying the game at 48 on a three-point play from Steltz. With the game tied at 50, Albright took its first lead of the night on a Steltz free throw, which started an 8-0 Albright run, giving the Lions a 58-50 lead with 15:46 left in the game. Lincoln stayed in the game on a pair of Sami Wylie three's and three buckets from Myrick, cutting the Albright lead to 66-62 with 13:06 on the clock. Albright responded with a 16-5 run, including four straight three's, for its largest lead of the game, 82-67, with just under nine minutes to play. Albright still held a 14-point edge, 92-78, with 5:23 to play, when Myrick took over for Lincoln. He hit six straight buckets on six consecutive possessions, including a three-pointer, while Albright went cold from the floor, to cut the Lion lead to 94-91 with three minutes to play. Wylie then came up with a steal and drained a triple to tie the game at 94 with 2:47 left on the clock. Steltz hit one free throw, but Lahart scored in the paint to give the lead back to Lincoln, 96-95, with 2:29 to play.
Albright's next four possessions resulted in two turnovers, two missed free throws, and a missed three, but Lincoln went cold as well, missing three shots and the front end of a one-and-one. Albright's last turnover gave Lincoln the ball with 17 seconds left, still holding a one-point lead. Lincoln turned the ball over on the in bounds play, however, giving Albright one final shot. Murphy missed a three with nine seconds left, but the rebound went out-of-bounds to Albright, setting up his game winner with 1.6 seconds on the clock.
Albright shot 58.1% from the floor in the game, including a blistering 21-30 in the second half. The Lions were also 11-22 from three-point land, and handed out 23 assists, led by Kieselowsky with nine. Lincoln was 40-90 from the field in the game, but only 6-26 from beyond the arc. Wylie and Darryl White each had 16 points for Lincoln.
Newspaper Box Score Lincoln vs Albright 11/22/05 7:00 p.m. at Bollman Center - Reading, PA At Bollman Center - Reading, PA ALBRIGHT 97, LINCOLN 96 LINCOLN (3-1) MYRICK, Kyle 19-37 4-5 44; WHITE, Darryl 8-12 0-1 16; WYLIE, Sami 4-17 4-4 16; LAHART, Thomas 4-11 0-1 8; HICKSON, Thomas 3-5 0-0 6; LEACH, Brian 2-3 0-0 4; WOOD, Maurice 0-0 2-2 2; WOOTEN, Garrick 0-0 0-0 0; MORRISON, Anthony 0-3 0-0 0; CARTER-BEY, Vincent 0-2 0-0 0; LEE, Steven 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 40-90 10-13 96. ALBRIGHT (3-0) Taylor Steltz 6-9 6-8 20; Trevor Deeter 8-10 3-8 19; Tom Murphy 6-12 2-4 16; Matt Kieselowsky 4-7 2-2 12; Andy Winebrenner 4-7 0-0 11; Greg Conroy 2-5 0-0 6; Kyle Brudvig 3-7 0-0 6; Lee Walter 2-2 0-2 4; Shane Harvey 1-3 0-0 2; Albert Medoro 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 36-62 14-26 97. Lincoln....................... 46 50 - 96 Albright...................... 40 57 - 97 3-point goals-Lincoln 6-26 (WYLIE, Sami 4-12; MYRICK, Kyle 2-8; LAHART, Thomas 0-1; LEACH, Brian 0-1; MORRISON, Anthony 0-3; CARTER-BEY, Vincent 0-1), Albright 11-22 (Andy Winebrenner 3-5; Greg Conroy 2-4; Matt Kieselowsky 2-2; Taylor Steltz 2-4; Tom Murphy 2-6; Trevor Deeter 0-1). Fouled out--Lincoln-HICKSON, Thomas, Albright-None. Rebounds-Lincoln 39 (LAHART, Thomas 10), Albright 46 (Trevor Deeter 15). Assists-Lincoln 6 (MYRICK, Kyle 3), Albright 23 (Matt Kieselowsky 9). Total fouls-Lincoln 21, Albright 14. A-520