SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY -- Mark Lyons, an energetic, spunky guard from the Albany City Rocks AAU basketball program, scored 18 points and helped direct his team to a 53-32 victory over the TW Bloodhounds at the Joe Brown Memorial Tournament held on the campus of Seton Hall University.
Lyons, 6-foot-1, is an athletic guard and a fierce competitor. He spend several trips down the court on the floor diving for loose balls or taking charges. Lyons is simply a leader too.
Mark's 11 points in the first half gave the Albany City Rocks a 25-15 lead after the first 15 minutes of play. Each half at this event consisted of 15 minutes. The 2008 prospect has already given a verbal commitment to Xavier. Lyons is certainly one of the better all around guards on the high school/prep level.
Lyons did a terrific job in running the offense, breaking the second half pressure, and just being a pest on the defensive side of the ball.
The team the Rocks competed against today is from Quebec. They are a decent team that does some backdoor cutting and has some athletic skills. So this was not an easy game for the Rocks.
But what was impressive is Mark Lyons and his desire to battle on every possession, whether it would be on the offensive side or defending. He was simply impressive. And this is great news for Xavier fans.