A tip in by Medgar Evers' Jovan Deare with one second left gave the Cougars a 95-93 win over Albertus Magnus in men's basketball on Tuesday night.
A desperation three pointer by Chris Cornish fell short as Deare was there to tip in the final basket of the night just before the final buzzer.
Tonight's loss marks the first for the Falcons this season as they move to 5-1 on the year. Medgar Evers improves to 6-4 with the non-conference victory.
With 1:05 left in the contest, Chris Cagle (New Haven, Conn.) connected on a layup to tie the game at 91 but missed his free throw as he attempted to finish the three-point play. A foul with under a minute to go put Medgar Evers' Tony Sims on the line as he hit both free throws to give the Cougars a two-point lead.
Ray Askew (Hamden, Conn.) found himself on the line with 36 seconds left on the clock and connected on both foul shots to tie the game for the 11th time of the night.
Medgar Evers' had the last look as Deare was in the right place at the right time to secure the victory for the Cougars.
The largest lead of the night came in the first half as Albertus took an eight-point advantage with 49 seconds left in the frame. The Falcons went into the halftime break up by six at 57-51.
The two teams combined for 12 three-pointers in the first half as they hit a total of eight in the first 10 minutes of play. The Falcons buried five 3-pointers in the opening 10 minutes, led by Arshad Jackson (Hartford, Conn.) and Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.) who both hit two in that time frame.
Both teams battled in a close second half but in the end the Cougars left on top as they were able to hit four of their six free throw attempts in the final five minutes of play. During that same time frame, the Falcons were just 3-of-9 from the charity stripe.
On the night, the Falcons shot 48.5-percent from the floor, while connecting on 11 of their 29 three-point field goal attempts. Albertus shot 16-of-28 from the free-throw line, a mark of 57.1-percent.
Askew led all scorers with 38 points and 14 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. The senior hit 11-of-18 from the floor and 15-of-24 from the free-throw line in 39 minutes of work. Watson hit four 3-pointers to finish the contest with 22 points, while Jackson tallied 14 points and nine assists. Watson's 22 points marked his sixth-straight game with double figures, including his third game of the year with 20 or more points.
Askew has reached the 1,700 career point mark, becoming only the sixth men's basketball player in GNAC history to reach that plateau. He also has a career total of 959 rebounds, which places him in second place on the GNAC career list.
The Falcons registered 20 second-chance points on the night, while out-rebounding the Cougars 41-32.
Albertus will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 8 in a 7:00 p.m. contest against Norwich.
