Wednesday’s home game for the Albemarle men’s basketball team saw the Bulldogs open with a 22-5 push then stave off a second half rally to earn a 66-44 win over the Central Academy Cougars.

M.J Raye led four in double figures for Albemarle (1-1) with 28 points while Nhazer Little added 14 points.

Ali Currie scored 10 of his 13 points in a fast opening quarter for Albemarle which saw the Bulldogs connect four times from the 3-point arc. Camarie McNeil also had 10 points for the Bulldogs.

Bulldogs head coach Marc Raye said fatigue caught up with his team in the second half. The Cougars narrowed the gap to single digits in the second half but a late push by Albemarle quashed the rally.

“I would rather play like we did last night and lost today then play like we did today. I’m happy we won but we took a couple of steps back from last night,” Raye said.

The coach added having at least four guys in double figures in back-to-back games says a lot for the system, the players and the trust the team has in each other.

Raye credited efforts off the bench from Jabari Brooks, Omarie Price and Kyrean Baldwin playing in some of their first varsity games. The Bulldogs have five players still playing football with Albemarle in the playoffs this week.

Albemarle travels to Covenant Classical Friday.