Before the Break: The Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team ended the first semester of play by going 1-1 at home in non-conference action in early December. The Falcons saw their five-game winning streak to open the season come to an end with a 91-85 setback versus Fitchburg State. The loss to the visitors from the Bay State also snapped an NCAA-best 59-game home winning streak. Two days later, AMC rebounded with a 106-89 triumph against No. 17 Brooklyn College. In the victory, Shontaey Lovell and Jaqhawn Walters paced the Falcons attack with 31 and 28 points, respectively.
This Week: Albertus Magnus returns to action after a 27-day holiday layoff. The Falcons have a trio of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) clashes with Anna Maria, Lasell and Saint Joesph's (Maine). The Falcons, who are receiving votes in the most-recent D3Hoops.com poll, put their 27-game regular season conference winning streak on the line on the road versus the AmCats on January 5.
Match-up:
Albertus Magnus (6-1, 3-0) at Anna Maria (6-4, 2-1)
Tuesday, January 5, 2016 at 6:00 pm
Fuller Center
Paxton, Mass.
Live Stats: Click here (All links will become active at the start of the contest)
Live Video: Click here
Series History: Albertus Magnus leads the all-time series, 8-3. The Falcons have won five straight against the AmCats. The last win for Anna Maria came in January of 2013 at home. All three of the Albertus losses have come away from New Haven.
Scouting Anna Maria: The AmCats are coming off a 1-1 showing at the Trinity Holiday Tournament on December 30 & 31. As a team, Anna Maria is averaging over 75 points per game and shooting better than 44 percent from the field. At home this winter, the squad is 2-0, highlighted by an 84-73 GNAC victory versus Norwich. Three AmCats average in double figures, led by senior guard Patrick Bradanese with 18 points per game. The fourth-year playmaker also leads the team with over five assists per contest.
Match-up:
Albertus Magnus (6-1, 3-0) vs. Lasell (6-4, 3-0)
Thursday, January 7 at 7:00 pm
The Nest inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center
New Haven, Conn.
Live Stats: Click here
Live Video: Click here
Series History: Albertus Magnus leads the all-time series, 14-4, with the first meeting coming back in 2008. After losing the first four meeting to the Lasers, the Falcons have won the last 14 games against Lasell. Since the 2012-13 season, AMC has won six of the seven meetings by double digits.
Scouting Lasell: The Lasers have won three straight road games, highlighted by a 91-56 thrashing of Norwich back in December. Before the holiday break, Lasell saw its six-game winning streak come to an end with a setback versus No. 3 Amherst. As a team, the Lasers average 78 points per tilt, while shooting just under 45 percent from the field. Lasell has struggled from the charity stripe, knocking down just 71 percent of their attempts. It is a balanced offensive attack for the Lasers with five players averaging in double figures. Junior guard Armin Omanovic leads the way with 14.3 points and three assists per game.
Match-up:
Albertus Magnus (6-1, 3-0) at Saint Joseph's (Maine) (3-7, 0-3)
Saturday, January 9, 2016 at 3:00 pm
Harold Alfond Center
Standish, Maine
Live Stats: Click here
Live Video: Click here
Series History: The Falcons lead the all-time series, 11-8. At home, Saint Joseph's holds a 5-4 edge. Albertus Magnus has won four straight in the series and nine of the last 10 contests. Only two of the last 10 games have been decided by fewer than 10 points.
Scouting Saint Joseph's: The Monks entered the holiday break having dropped five straight games, including two home conference games against Anna Maria and Emmanuel. During the skid, Saint Joseph's has averaged just under 55 points per tilt. On the season, the team is shooting slightly over 43 percent from the field and has been outrebounded by an average margin of six boards a game. Offensively, John Crawley and Andrew Ruffen average double figures. Crawley is pouring in over 15 points a game and leads the squad in three-point shooting, while Ruffen nets over 10 a game and is second on the team in assists.
Albertus Notes:
- The Falcons enter the week riding a 27-game regular season GNAC winning streak. Including post-season contests, Albertus Magnus has won 33 games versus conference foes in a row.
- Before the break, Lovell was named the GNAC Men's Basketball Player and Rookie of the Week. He was tabbed as the top rookie in the conference for the fifth straight week and he earned Player of the Week honors for the first time this season. Lovell continued his dominant post play in the team's last two games, averaging more than 24 points and 15 rebounds a game as the Falcons went 1-1 in non-conference action. The 6-6 forward also recorded more than one block per contest and shot an impressive 77 percent from the field (17-of-22). At the charity stripe, he jarred 15-of-21 free throws.
- In the win against Brooklyn College, Walters poured in a season-high 28 points to go along with 12 rebounds and four assists. He topped the 20-point plateau for the second time this season and recorded his second double-double of the year.
- Sophomore guard Chaunce Dunbar provided a spark off the bench versus Bulldogs, scoring 17 points courtesy of hitting five shots from beyond the arc.
- As a team, Albertus Magnus is averaging over 88 points per game and shooting 49 percent from the field, highlighted by hitting just under 36 percent of their shots from three-point range.
