ROCHESTER &045; Going into Friday night’s Big Nine game at Rochester Mayo, the Albert Lea High School boys’ basketball team knew rebounding would be key.

It was more than key. It was the difference.

The Spartans controlled the boards, outrebounding the Tigers 28-21 while snaring 13 offensive rebounds, and held off the Tigers 51-50.

“Mayo just played real tough,” said an obviously disappointed ALHS coach Matt Addington. “They countered everything we had offensively, they forced us into not a lot of great shots, they rebounded real well. We said going in that rebounding would be key, if we get outrebounded somebody’s doing something right or we’re doing something wrong.”

The Tigers kept it close throughout despite what Addington called three “listless” quarters.

After a 17-17 tie at the end of the first quarter, the Tigers led 28-25 at halftime but trailed 39-34 after three.

“We were flat,” said Addington. “We played right to them. We tried to force things.”

Still, the Tigers had a chance at the end. A pair of free throws by Ben Woodside pulled them within 51-50 with six seconds left, but the Tigers could not foul quickly enough and didn’t get a Spartan to the line until 9/10ths of a second remained. The free throw was missed, but all the Tigers could do was heave a desperation court-length shot at their basket.

Woodside finished with 20 points. Ryan Moore scored eight, Tyler Young six, Stephen Thorn six, Mike Behrends four, Ross Habben two, Tom Munden two, Jordan Skophammer two.

Both teams ran their overall record to 5-4. The Tigers fell to 1-4 in the Big Nine.

The ALHS boys host Mankato East Tuesday.