FINAL SCORE: Albertus Magnus 110 | Mount Ida 89
TEAM RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (20-4, 16-2) | Mount Ida (16-9, 12-6)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - In his final home regular season contest, senior Grant Ellis (Newark, N.J.) scored a team-high 37 points to lead the Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team past visiting Mount Ida, 110-89, on Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at The Nest inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Up by 11, 16-5, Albertus Magnus forced Mount Ida to use its first timeout of the game to regroup before the Falcons found themselves up 13, 22-9, following a deep three from Ellis with 13:17 on the clock. Jacob Sartain brought the visitors to within eight, 22-14, but the Falcons would push their lead back up to 13 and would hold a 60-35 lead at the half.
Mount Ida saw the Falcons' lead grow to 33, 70-37, after a three from Shaquille Mitchell (Linden, N.J.) at the 17:47 mark and continued to chop away at the 30-point deficit. At the 8:21 mark, Jesse Nelson cut the lead to 10, 84-74, after his made layup and a 37-14 run, but the Falcons came together as a team and never looked back, securing the win, 110-89.
FIRST HALF STATS
- Ellis scored 22 of his 37 points over the first 20 minutes of play as well as went 5-of-7 from three-point range.
- Albertus shot an impressive 53.5 percent from the floor as well as shot 54.5 percent from behind the arc.
- John Oliver led the offensive charge for the Mustang with nine points.
- The Falcons held a 25-20 edge over Mount Ida in rebounds.
- Both teams registered three blocks, including two from Errald Jordine of Mount Ida.
SECOND HALF STATS
- Along with Ellis, Shaquille Mitchell (Linden, N.J.) and Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) scored in double-figures.
- Albertus continued to shoot well from the field, 54.5 percent, and three-point range, 50.0 percent.
- Jesse Nelson and Dennis Ross totaled 33 of the Mustangs' 54 points.
- Mount Ida recorded eight steals while the hosts' only collected one steal from Ryan Pittman (Stratford, Conn.).
FINAL STATS
- Along with his 37 points, Ellis finished with three rebounds and a steal
- The Mustangs' bench totaled 62 of their 89 points, including double-digit performances from Dennis Ross, Jesse Nelson and John Oliver.
- Four of the Falcons five starters finished in double-figures.
- Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) also finished with a double-double as the forward collected 27 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, two stals and a block.
- Mount Ida held a 21-20 egde in points off turnovers, but Albertus led the visitors 50-42 in rebounds.
- The Mustang's largest lead of the game came at the 18:56 mark as they led by three.
UP NEXT
The Falcons have earned the #1 seed in the GNAC Championship and will host #8 Anna Maria on Tuesday, February 21st for a quarterfinal matchup. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.