Albert Lea had two defensive keys coming into Tuesday’s matchup with Mayo — they accomplished one.

The Tigers’ (1-15, 0-9) first goal was to stop Garrett Benson, one of Mayo’s top players. They accomplished that, limiting him to one point.

But Albert Lea wasn’t able to meet its second goal of stopping the ball against Andrew Matsumoto and Sam Calcagno.

Matsumoto exploded for a game-high 22 points and Calcagno added 13 to lead the Spartans (7-9, 5-4) to a 70-41 win over the Albert Lea boys’ basketball team in Rochester.

“We needed to stop the basketball, we needed to stop them from getting to the basket,” said Tigers head coach Chad Feikema. “Those two guys were able to get to the basket far too easy, we couldn’t stop the ball.”

Albert Lea got off to a slow start in the first half, scoring just 17 points, while Mayo put up 42.

“We did not come out with any intensity to start the game,” Feikema said. “It was not a good effort from the jump.”

The lack of offensive production was a stark contrast of recent games where the Tigers have been able to start the game strong.

Albert Lea shot 33 percent from the field with Sean Templeman leading the way with 10 points.

The Spartans shot 50 percent from the field, largely because of the inside looks they got.

“We were out of position and step too slow, which led to them getting a lot of high percentage shots,” Feikema said.

It also led to Mayo getting to the foul line a lot. The Spartans made 21 of their 29 free throw attempts.

The Tigers return to action Friday against Mankato East in Albert Lea.

Mayo 70, Albert Lea 41

Albert Lea 17 24 — 41

Mayo 42 28 — 70

Albert Lea scoring: Sean Templeman 10, Colby Strilaeff 9, Colton Zuniga 8, Alik Smed 4, Josh Eisenbraun 4, Aaron Klatt 2, Woody Dahl 2, Silas Randall 2.

Mayo scoring: Andrew Matsumoto 22, Dan Allman 13, Sam Calcagno 13, Michael Franzone 6, Steve Miller 4, Keaton Wendroth 4, Evan Morris 4, Ian Hathaway 2, Cody Gallaher 2, Garrett Benson 1.