The Albertus Magnus men's basketball team downed Rivier University 73-52 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Monday afternoon in New Haven.

The opening 10 minutes of play was close as both teams struggled from the floor.  The score was tied five times, while the lead changed twice.  At the break, Albertus led by five at 31-26 as both teams shot 33.3% from the floor. The Falcons registered 10 points on 17 free-throw attempts, while Rivier hit just 4-of-12 from the charity stripe in the first half.

Albertus took over the game in the second half after Rivier cut the Falcon lead to 33-30 with 18:35 to go in the game. The Falcons went on a 20-3 run in over a span of 7:23 in the second half before a free throw made the score 53-34.

The Falcons' lead extended to as many as 28 points in the second half with 3:30 left on the clock. Senior Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.) led all scorers with 19 points, as Victor Ljuljdjuraj (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) added 12 points, nine rebounds, and three blocked shots.

Off the bench, Kyle Wiggins (Milford, Conn.) tallied 11 points, while Marcus Walker (Newark, N.J.) had seven points and nine rebounds.  Lemar Larsen (Waterbury, Conn.) chipped in with eight points and 10 points.

Rivier shot 32.0% from the floor and hit just 3-of-14 from behind the arc, while the Falcons shot 42.9% from the field.

The Raiders were led by 13 points and seven rebounds from Tom Poitras fouling out of the contest.  Jake Nelson, who also fouled out, tallied 11 points and four rebounds. Nick Walch added seven rebounds, four assists, and eight points.

The Falcons are 26-18 against the Raiders all-time dating back to the 1992-93 season.  Albertus has posted 11-straight wins over the Raiders and have a 16-8 record at home against that program.

Rivier is now 5-11 overall on the year and 2-7 in the league standings. Albertus improved to 13-1 on the year and 9-0 in GNAC action.

Albertus is set to host Elms on Wednesday night, Jan. 22 at 7:00 p.m. in non-conference play.