Ray Askew (Hamden, Conn.) led the Albertus Magnus men's basketball team to an 86-75 win over the United States Coast Guard on Tuesday night as the senior scored 40 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in the Falcons' 2011-12 season opener.

Sophomore Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.) also scored in double figures as he netted 20 points, while shooting 8-for-16 from the floor. He added eight rebounds as well.

Albertus (1-0) opened tonight's contest with a 10-3 run in the first 2:14 before extending its lead to 13 with three minutes to go in the first half. During the early run, Askew scored all 10 points for the Falcons as Arshad Jackson (Hartford, Conn.) assisted on each of his buckets. Jackson finished the night with a team-best eight assists.

Askew scored 21 of his 40 points in the first half as he shot 8-for-10 from the floor in the opening frame. The senior also grabbed eight boards in the first frame, in 14 minutes played.

The Falcons went into the halftime break with a 52-39 advantage before Coast Guard came out in the second half and outscored the home team 36-34.

The Bears opened the second half with a 15-6 run to cut the Albertus lead to four with 14:30 on the clock. With help from Watson and Askew, the Falcons pushed their lead back up to 13 with less than nine minutes to go in the contest. Under the three-minute mark, Albertus took a 15-point lead and never looked back.

Askew shot 11-for-14 from the free throw line in the second half alone, while finishing the night 14-for-19 on the charity stripe. The Falcons also scored 27 points off 21 Coast Guard turnovers, while outrebounding the Bears 47-35.

The Bears were led by five players in double figures, while David Anderson led the charge with 15 points and eight rebounds. Greg Marshall added 14 points, while Kevin Sowers contributed with 13. Coast Guard shot 46-percent from the floor on the night, while shooting 53.3-precent in the second half of play.

Albertus returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 22 as the Falcons host Western Connecticut State University in a 7:00 p.m. non-conference match-up.