The #7 Albertus Magnus men's basketball team used a 75-68 win over Anna Maria College on Saturday afternoon to finish the 2014-15 regular season with a perfect 18-0 record in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play.
The Falcons also improved to an impressive 24-1 on the year with the conference victory. They will now be the top seed in the upcoming GNAC Tournament, which is set to begin on Tuesday.
Led by 19 points from senior Julian Sanders (Trumbull, Conn.), the Falcons picked up their ninth all-time victory over the AMCats in program history.
Today's loss drops the AMCATs overall record to 14-11 and their league record to 12-6. Tyler Delorey led all scorers with 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the floor. He was also 2-of-2 from behind the arc and 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Eain Davis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) tallied his eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while he added six assists. Lemar Larsen (Waterbury, Conn.) also had 17 points to go along with seven boards.
Victor Ljuljdjuraj (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) added 13 points and 10 rebounds for his 17th double-double of the season.
Anna Maria help an early eight-point lead in the first half before the Falcons tied the game at 20 with 8:53 left in the frame.
At the halftime break, the Falcons led 33-29 thanks to a 7-0 run by the Falcons late in the frame.
The second half saw many lead changes before the Falcons pushed out to an 11-point lead with 4:44 left on the clock. Anna Maria maintained the lead for a few minutes early in the second half before Sanders hit a jumper at the 14:44 mark of the frame. With 9:28 to go, Larsen hit a pair for free throws to give the Falcons the lead for good.
The Falcons finished the game shooting 39.1% from the floor but struggled behind the arc, hitting just 3-of-18 for a 16.7% showing. Anna Maria shot 43.1% from the field. Albertus out-rebounded the AMCATs 45-29 on the afternoon, and out-scored Anna Maria 42-24 in the paint.
Albertus is now 9-3 all-time against Anna Maria dating back to the 1992-93 season. The Falcons have won the last five-straight meetings with the AMCATS, while posting an 8-1 record since the 2011-12 season.
The Falcons will host the first round of the GNAC Tournament on Tuesday night in New Haven when they play Suffolk University. Tip is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
