Victor Ljuljdjuraj (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) led five Falcons in double figures as he tallied 24 points and 14 rebounds as the No. 15 Albertus Magnus men's basketball team defeated Johnson & Wales (R.I.) 96-81 on Tuesday night in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play.
Ljuljdjuraj added six blocked shots to go along with his double-double. Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.) tallied 19 points for the Falcons as he is now just one point away from his 2,000th career point as a Falcon.
Two other Falcons scored in double figures as Marc Wilson tallied 10 points off the bench for Albertus in the first half of the contest, while James Jennings (Bridgeport, Conn.) scored 14 points as he was 4-for-5 from behind the arc. Eian Davis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added a career-high 14 assists as well.
With tonight's victory, the Falcons improve to 22-2 on the year and 16-1 in GNAC play, while JWU falls to 18-6 on the year and 14-3 in league action.
Despite Albertus shooting over 61% in the first half, the Wildcats put together a run to take a one-point lead at the halftime break. JWU out-rebounded the Falcons 25-15 in the frame and went ahead 50-49 at intermission thanks to 16 made free throws out of 20 attempts to help lead the way.
JWU opened the game with a 12-5 run before a 10-2 run for Albertus put the Falcons back into the game in the back-and-forth first half of play.
Wilson came off the bench to score all 10 of his points in the first half, while Ljuljdjuraj scored 13 points to go along with three blocks and four rebounds in the frame. Davis dished out eight assists in the half as well.
Albertus outscored the Wildcats 47-31 in the second half and shot 56.5% on the night en route to the victory.
Esaie Touze and Quarry Greenaway led the Wildcats with 21 points a piece, while Touze added 12 rebounds.
Albertus will host Emmanuel College on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3:00 p.m. That contest also serves as the Falcons' Senior Day.
