SALISBURY, Md.  - The Salisbury University men's basketball team dropped an 86-76 decision to Albright College in the nightcap of the 2008 Optimist Classic on Friday night in the Maggs Center. 

Junior Greg Palmer had an outstanding game for the Sea Gulls as he recorded Salisbury's first double-double of the season. Palmer was 7-for-19 from the field and 4-for-8 from three-point range. The co-captain guard notched 20 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks for SU, all of which were team highs. Sophomore center Chris McGrew (14 points, eight rebounds) and junior guard Devin Jones (13 points, two assists) helped pace the maroon and gold. The Sea Gulls had nine different player register points in the game.

Salisbury (1-7) and Albright (6-1) played even in the first half as each team traded leads until the 7:15 mark. After SU took a 22-20 lead on a layup by freshman Lee Righter (six points), the Lions would use a 13-0 run over the next four minutes to extend their lead. The Sea Gulls were not phased as they would shrink the Lions' lead to just eight, 38-30, at halftime.

SU stormed out of the gates in the second half. SU used seven points by McGrew in an 11-5 run to start the period and would come within one point, 43-42, with 14 minutes left to play. The Lions would again respond to the Sea Gull run and score 30 points over the next seven minutes to push their lead to 73-57.

Albright had four players reach double digits in points. The Lions were led by Andrew Pomager, who had a game-high 23 points. Zac Shaeffer (18 points, three assists), Phil Hall (13 points, eight rebounds) and Derek Hall (14 points) helped pace Albright.

Salisbury will next face Messiah College, who defeated Randolph College 63-61 in overtime in the first men's game of the Optimist Classic on Friday. The Salisbury-Messiah game is set to begin at 8 p.m. on Saturday night and will be the final game of the 2008 Optimist Classic.

2008 Optimist Classic - Men's Basketball

Friday, December 5
Albright 86, Salisbury 76 - Box Score
Messiah 63, Randolph 61 (OT) - Box Score 

Saturday, December 6
Randolph vs. Albright, 3 p.m.
Messiah vs. Salisbury, 8 p.m.