Michael Rudy knew it was Lycoming's final hope as he muscled a pass up the court to Patrick Dougher.
The pass came with less than 10 seconds left and Lycoming trailing by three, and it just missed the outstretched hands of Dougher.
The resulting miss gave Albright a 90-87 win at Lamade and forced Lycoming into a win or go home scenario Saturday in the season finale at Hood. Lycoming beat Hood, 78-76, at Lamade early in the season.
"It's win or go home. It's that easy," Lycoming coach Guy Rancourt said.
In the early stages of Tuesday's Commonwealth Conference contest, Lycoming gave the impression of a team hoping to avoid a fifth consecutive loss to Albright. Chris Foreman got the Warriors in front with a 3-pointer. Rudy then added a block and a 3-pointer to push the early lead to 8-4.
Foreman led the Warriors with 10 first-half points, adding his second 3-pointer near the 10- minute mark to cut Albright's lead down to 22-19.
Rudy seemed to be the focus of Albright (19-5, 12-5) in the first half. The Lions routinely spread the floor out and attacked the middle of the defense.
"Mike had a tough task," Rancourt said. "He had to try and contain things in the middle. We wanted to try and relieve some of that pressure for him as much as possible."
Rudy recorded three blocks in the first half. He also pulled out to give Lycoming (15-9, 9-8) a 3-pointer and added two boards. Rudy finished with 13 points and five rebounds.
Albright, though, pushed its first-half lead to 51-39 at the break. Albright outscored Lycoming 24-14 in the paint. Pedro Perez did most of the first-half damage and finished with 14 points.
"Albright is a really good team. There's a reason they have 19 wins," Rancourt said. "We responded in the second half, but you can't only play one half of a game."
Lycoming made four of eight attempted 3-pointers in the second half, along with hitting 15 of 31 shots from the floor.
Lycoming got within a point of tying in the final minute and sent Kyle Jordan to the line with less than 10 seconds remaining. Jordan missed both attempts, which gave Rudy the ball underneath the hoop.
The resulting pass missed Dougher and gave Albright the crucial conference win.
ALBRIGHT (19-5, 12-5 CC)
Pedro Perez 11-14 1-3 26; Dave Singleton 8-16 3-7 19; Zach Benjamin 6-17 2-2 14; Reuel Moore 4-9 2-2 13; Kyle Jordan 3-8 6-10 13; Andre Marshall 1-1 0-0 3; Sam Marrella 0-1 2-2 2; Calvert Gantz 0-0 0-0 0; Cornell Mickens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-66 16-26 90.
LYCOMING (15-9, 9-8 CC)
Rob Pillow IV 6-10 0-1 16; Anthony Martin 5-16 5-5 15; Michael Rudy 6-13 0-0 15; Jerald Williams 4-7 4-6 12; Chris Foreman 3-9 2-2 10; William Wingate 3-6 4-6 10; Kevin Anthony 1-1 1-3 3; John Monkam 0-0 2-2 2; Patrick Dougher 1-6 0-0 2; John Ryan Wolff 1-1 0-0 2; Justin Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-69 18-25 87.
Halftime - 51-39. 3-point goals--Albright 8-19 (Moore 3-7; Perez 3-5; Marshall 1-1; Jordan 1-1; Marrella 0-1; Benjamin 0-1; Singleton 0-3), Lycoming 9-20 (Pillow IV 4-6; Rudy 3-4; Foreman 2-5; Wingate 0-1; Dougher 0-3; Williams 0-1). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Albright 45 (Singleton 13), Lycoming 38 (Rudy 6). Assists--Albright 20 (Singleton 12), Lycoming 14 (Williams 10). Total fouls--Albright 17, Lycoming 20. Technical fouls--None. A-354.
