The Albert Lea boys’ basketball team earned its 10th win of the season with a 74-64 victory over Big Nine Conference foe Rochester Mayo on Tuesday.

For the second straight game, the Tigers were focussed from the opening tip. Albert Lea didn’t miss a shot until it had six points. Jorge Sena, Cody Scherff and Miles Erdman hit 15-foot jumpshots to give Albert Lea a 6-2 lead.

A pair of transition layups by Dylan See-Rockers gave the Tigers a 14-7 lead, but Mayo came back to tie the game at 14.

Despite two free throws and a putback by Sena, the Spartans took a 26-25 lead.

On Albert Lea’s next possession, another layup by See-Rockers gave the Tigers the lead back. They didn’t trail the rest of the game.

Tyler Vandenheuvel and See-Rockers extended Albert Lea’s advantage with 3-pointers.

“We did a great job of spacing out and getting into our drive game,” Albert Lea head coach Lucas Kreuscher said. “If they’d collapse, then we’d kick it out. If they didn’t, we had shots at the rim.”

However, Mayo took back some momentum by hitting a 3-pointer of its own at the first half buzzer. The basket cut Albert Lea’s lead to five points (45-40).

In the second half, Erdman and Scherff continued to make shots from the elbows, but Mayo slashed its deficit to three points (53-50). That was as close as the Spartans would get.

The Tigers took a 67-58 lead on an outlet pass from Jorge Sena to See-Rockers, who scored in transition.

“We got out an ran,” Kreuscher said. “It starts with defense and finishes with offense.”

With 1 minute and 30 seconds left in regulation, Vandenheuval hit a key 3-pointer.

“I was getting the ball a lot more,” Vandenheuval said. “In the second half, we picked it up spacing-wise. Everyone was on key and willing to work.”

Mayo was forced to foul and Sena hit two clutch free-throws to give Albert Lea the win and its first double-digit lead of the game.

Five Tigers scored in double digits: See-Rockers, 18, Sena, 15, Erdman, 14, Vandenheuvel, 12 and Scherff, 11.

Sena also led the Tigers with five assists.

Scherff neared a double-double by grabbing a team-high eight boards.

Mayo’s Maurice Cain led all scorers with 23 points.

Albert Lea improved to 10-7 overall, 5-6 (sixth) in the Big Nine Conference and 3-3 (fourth) in section one of class 3A.

Next, Albert Lea plays at Mankato East (4-15) at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.