STANDISH, Maine – Albertus Magnus College (3-1, 1-0 GNAC) managed to outlast Saint Joseph's College (1-7, 0-1 GNAC), 85-73, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

In a game that featured five lead changes and six tie scores, neither team managed to obtain a lead greater than six points until Albertus Magnus senior guard Qualon Wilkes (Bridgeport, Conn.) hit a pair of free throws to lift his team to a 27-19 advantage with 7:17 left in the first half.

The Falcons failed to gain additional breathing room however, as the Monks drained a trio of threes in a matter of 49 seconds, as senior guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) connected from deep to cut the hosts' deficit to 30-28 with 4:54 before the break. The teams essentially traded blows for the rest of the half with Albertus Magnus clinging to a 38-36 edge going into intermission.

The start of the second stanza saw a continuation of back and forth play, but the Monks – trailing 41-38 with 19:21 left – managed to claim their largest lead of the game on the heels of a 16-4 run. Junior forward Ashtyn Abbott (Farmingdale, Maine) capped the scoring burst with a layup and the hosts on top, 54-45, with 14:08 to play and senior guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) netted 10 of his game-high 25 points during the five-minute span.

As it played out, St. Joe's held the lead for less than three minutes, as the Falcons answered with a 12-1 outbreak, capped by a Wilkes trey, to make it a 57-55 game with 11:19 left. Albertus went on to earn a double-digit (66-56) cushion four minutes later, but Curtis made two three-pointers just 38 seconds apart to cut the visitors' lead to 66-62 with 6:47 on the clock.

The Falcons surged to a 12-point lead (76-64) over the subsequent three minutes and led by at least 10 points for the remainder of the afternoon.

STATS OF THE GAME:

Albertus Magnus held a 46-34 lead in rebounds with 19 on the offensive glass and posted a 23-14 advantage in second-chance points.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Curtis netted a game-high 25 points with four assists
• Foley added 17 points, five boards, and three blocked shots
• Abbott was 5-for-6 from the floor with 10 points
• Sophomore Camryn Yorke (Auburn, Maine) tallied eight points, nine rebounds, and four assists

LEADERS – ALBERTUS MAGNUS:

• Senior guard Tyreek Perkins (New Haven, Conn.) scored 23 points with eight boards and four assists
• Junior forward Justice Washington (Hamden, Conn.) notched a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds
• Senior forward Terry Dawkins (Bronx, N.Y.) scored 15 points with five rebounds
• Senior guard Davon Warner (New Haven, Conn.) came off the bench to score 10 points with three rebounds, four assists, and three steals

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 10-17 all-time versus Albertus Magnus College.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will play at Regis College on Wednesday in a GNAC contest set to start at 6:00 PM.

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