Night and day.

That was the difference between the first and second half as the Albert Lea boys’ basketball team hosted Austin.

The Tigers excelled on both ends of the court in the first half, said Tigers coach Lucas Kreuscher.

“We were patient offensively, and spacing was outstanding,” he said. “Dedoch (Chan) had quite a few attacks down the middle of the lane and a big dunk. We were in rhythm.”

Chan led Albert Lea with 29 points and seven rebounds.

Austin needed a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to take a 34-28 lead.

However, the wheels fell off in the second half. The Packers outscored the Tigers 56-22 Friday in the final 18 minutes and went on to win 90-50 at Albert Lea.

“In the second half, I don’t think that we played with the aggressiveness that we’ve had the last few games,” Kreuscher said.

Jack Buendorf added seven points, and Jake Thompson led Albert Lea’s backcourt with six points.

Next, the Tigers (0-13 overall, 0-10 Big Nine Conference) will play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Winona (4-10 overall, 2-8 Big Nine Conference). The Winhawks lost their first six games and have won half of their last eight. Albert Lea is 12th in the conference standings. Winona is 10th.