Men's Basketball Tops Mount Ida, 86-80

Photo by: Ron Waite/Photosportacular
Photo by: Ron Waite/Photosportacular

FINAL SCORE: Albertus Magnu 86 | Mount Ida 80
TEAM RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (17-4, 13-2) | Mount Ida (14-8, 10-5)

NEWTON, Mass. – Junior forward Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) of the Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team collected his 17th double-double, 25 points and 23 rebounds, as the Falcons rallied back in the second half to defeat Mount Ida, 86-80, on Tuesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mount Ida took control early in the first, opening the game with a 9-2 run to force the Falcons to call a timeout to regroup. Following the break, Albertus managed to cut the hosts lead in half, 12-6, before bringing the score to within two, 17-15, after a 9-5 run, with 10:52 remaining.

The hosts slowly pushed its lead to eight, 26-18, following a layup from Dennis Ross before a three from Jahmerikah Green-Younger (Norwalk, Conn.) brought the visitors to within three, 31-28, for the third and final time of the half. With two minutes remaining, Mount Ida put together a 7-3 run to close out the first with a 38-31 lead over the Falcons.

The Mustangs continued their momentum into the second extending their lead to nine, 40-31, but a 17-8 run sparked by Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) tied the game, for the first time, 50-50, at the 13:31 mark. With the score tied at 61-61, Grant Ellis (Newark, N.J.) hit a deep three to give the Falcons their first lead of the game, 64-62.

Albertus maintained its lead over the next five minutes of play and found themselves up seven, 76-69, with 3:20 left to play. Mount Ida threatened the Falcons' lead and brought the score to within three, 78-75, but the visitors kept their composure and secured the 86-80 road win.

FIRST HALF STATS

  • Despite trailing the hosts, Albertus shot 44.4 percent from the field compared to Mount Ida who shot 34.1 percent.
  • Mount Ida forced 13 Falcon turnovers and scored 10 points off those errors.
  • Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) led the defensive attack as the junior recorded three of the Falcons' six blocks.
  • Devin Coleman (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Mount Ida's Joey DeFillippi recorded 11 points apiece.

SECOND HALF STATS

  • Walters scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half as well as pulled down 16 rebounds.
  • Ryan Pittman (Stratford, Conn.) recorded the Falcons only steal of the second half.
  • Joey DeFillippi led the Mustangs' offense with 13 points.
  • Eric Langston (Stratford, Conn.) went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line.
FINAL STATS
  • Albertus finished the game shooting 50.8 percent from the floor while Mount Ida shot only 32.9 percent.
  • The Falcons outrebounded the Mustangs 55-39, but the Mustangs forced 23 Falcon turnovers.
  • Ellis was the next player to score in double-figures for the Falcons as he collected 14 points.
  • Devin Coleman (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Ryan Pittman (Stratford, Conn.) rounded out the quartet of double-digits scorers with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

UP  NEXT

The Falcons return to action this Saturday, Feb. 11 against Anna Maria.