Led by 18 points from Victor Ljuljdjuraj (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Tavon Sledge (Spring Valley, N.Y.), the #7 Albertus Magnus men's basketball team cruised to a 108-82 victory over Suffolk University on Tuesday night in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Quarterfinal Round.
With the win, the top-seeded Falcons improve to 25-1 on the year and will host #4 Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. in the tournament semifinals. The Monks used an overtime victory over Lasell to advance into the next round. The Falcons' win also extends its impressive home court winning streak to 55 games as it is the longest active home court winning streak in NCAA men's basketball (all levels).
Albertus controlled tonight's contest from the start, jumping out to a 7-3 lead before extending its lead to 21-12 at the 12:40 mark of the first half. The Falcons took a 10-point lead midway through the half.
With just about four minutes to go in the frame, Albertus took a 46-29 lead thanks to a four-point play by senior Julian Sanders (Trumbull, Conn.), which looked to put the game out of reach for the Rams.
Albertus shot an impressive 70% from the field in the opening half, hitting 21 of their 30 overall attempts from the floor. Despite their stellar showing from the field, Albertus hit just 12 of their 22 attempts from the free-throw line in the frame. The Falcons held the Rams to a 34.4% showing from the field in the half and forced 11 Suffolk turnovers in the frame.
Albertus shot 46.2% in the second half and hit 11-of-19 from the charity stripe, while the Rams shot 43.6%, besting their first-half effort.
Tonight's 108-point game was the Falcons' 34th game in program history in which they have scored over 100 points.
Ljuljdjuraj finished 6-of-12 from the floor as he tallied 18 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots, while Sledge shot 7-of-13 for 18 points to go along with six assists and three steals. Eain Davis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added eight points and seven assists for the Falcons.
Lemar Larsen (Waterbury, Conn.) registered 13 points as he was 3-of-4 from the floor and 7-of-8 from behind the arc. Sanders finished the game a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from behind the arc. He finished with 13 points.
Shaquille Mitchell (Linden, N.J.) scored 10 points off the bench for Albertus as the Falcons' bench out-scored Suffolk 38-28.
The Rams were led by Adam Chick with a game-high 24 points. He added 10 rebounds, while Caleb Unni and Curtis Casella chipped in with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
The Falcons, who are making their 15th appearance in the GNAC Tournament this season, are now 21-9 all-time in GNAC Tournament games. Albertus is now 18-16 all-time against Suffolk and have won its last five meetings against the Rams.
