Albertus Magnus College
Men's Basketball GNAC Preview

Albertus Magnus (19-5)
vs.
Anna Maria (10-15)
Tuesday, Feb. 20 • 7 pm • New Haven, Conn.
LINKS: VIDEO | LIVE STATS

POSTSEASON BEGINS
The Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team has earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming 2018 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament and will face the No. 8 seed Anna Maria College in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 20th. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in New Haven, Conn.

POSTSEASON NOTES

• This is the Falcons 10th-straight GNAC postseason appearance, extending their total to 17 overall.
• The Falcons are the defending GNAC Champions and are going for their seventh conference championship/NCAA berth in nine years.
• Albertus Magnus holds an all-time postseason record of 28-10.
• The Falcons hold a 3-0 edge over the AMCATS in the postseason.

2018 RECAP

• Finished the regular season with an overall record of 19-5 and a conference mark of 15-1.
• The Falcons only conference loss came in the regular season finale to Johnson & Wales.
• key wins over non-conference opponents WPI and Babson.
• 9-1 in the month of December.
• 10-game winning streak midway through the season.
• one 100-point game.
• 11-1 at home.
• 8-4 on the road.
• 19 win season --> 229 career wins for Coach Oliver.

GNAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Tuesday, February 20 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: #8 Anna Maria at #1 Albertus Magnus - 7:00 PM
Game 2: #5 Regis (Mass.) at #4 Lasell - 7:00 PM
Game 3: #6 Suffolk  at #3 Saint Joseph's Maine - 7:30 PM
Game 4: #7 Norwich at #2 Johnson & Wales - 7:00 PM

Thursday, February 22 - Semifinals
Game 5: 4/5 winner vs 1/8 winner
Game 6: 3/6 winner vs 2/7 winner

Saturday, February 24 - Final
Game 7: Highest remaining seed

ALL-TIME VS. ANNA MARIA
Albertus Magnus leads the all-time series over Anna Maria, 13-4.

THIS YEAR VS. ANNA MARIA
This season, the Falcons are 1-0 against the AMCATS.

Game (12/23/17): Albertus Magnus 87 | Anna Maria 76 - RECAP / BOX SCORE
Quick Highlight: Senior Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) netted a career-high 42 points to go along with 11 rebounds, two steals, two blocks and an assist.

SCOUTING ANNA MARIA

• Links: ROSTER | SCHEDULE/RESULTS | STATS
• Averages - 73.1 points and 40.6 rebounds per game.
• Shooting – 42.2% (field goal), 34.2% (three point) and 65.7% (free throw)
• Leading Scorer - Mike Rapoza averages 19.3 points and 14.4 rebounds, ranking him second in the GNAC in points and first in rebounds.
• assists per game – 17.4
• steals per game – 5.5
• blocks per game – 3.4
• opponents' field goal percentage – 44.3%
• opponents' three-point percentage – 34.3%
• rebound margin per game – 5.8

SCOUTING ALBERTUS MAGNUS

• Links: ROSTER | SCHEDULE/RESULTS | STATS
• Averages - 83.8 points and 43.3 rebounds per game.
• Shooting – 46.1% (field goal), 33.3% (three point) and 62.8% (free throw)
• Leading Scorer - Jaqhawn Walters averages 26.7 points and 14.3 rebounds, ranking him first in the GNAC in points and second in rebounds.
• assists per game – 10.5
• steals per game – 7.3
• blocks per game – 3.7
• opponents' field goal percentage – 41.8%
• opponents' three-point percentage – 30.7%
• rebound margin per game – 4.9

2017 RECAP

• The Falcons finish the first half of the season 5-3 to put them over .500 on the year.
• Albertus Magnus picked up key non-conference wins over WPI and Babson.
• The Falcons posted two two-game winning streaks.
• The team finished the month of December with a 3-2 record, including the 81-80 loss to New Jersey City back on Dec. 16.
• Albertus Magnus is 3-1 at home.

NEWCOMERS
The Falcons welcome five newcomers to the squad for the 2017-18 season – Yahya Bilal, Marqise Owens, Tyreek Perkins, Hanif Bilal and Amir Maddred.

WELCOME BACK
Albertus Magnus returns 11 players from last year's squad – Ryan Pittman, Mason Jones, Randy Thomas, Jemaa Yuori, Brian Hardy, Aaron Fox, Jaqhawn Walters, Damian Grant, Jahmerikah Green-Younger, Liam Perryman and Erick Langston.

MEN'S BASKETBALL LANDS ATOP OF GNAC PRESEASON POLL
Link: Complete GNAC Release   

The Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team received nine of 11 first-place votes to land atop the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) preseason poll. The Falcons earned 118 total points and finished 15 points ahead of second-place Johnson & Wales.

TICKETING INFORMATION FOR AMC BASKETBALL GAMES
All Albertus Magnus men's & women's basketball regular-season games are subject to tickets and admission charges. Tickets are $3 for adults/senior citizens and children 12 & under (accompanied by an adult) are free. Albertus Magnus students, faculty and staff receive free admission to the event with a valid ID.

Individual season passes are also available and priced at $20. The season pass allows (1) admission to any/both men's and women's basketball regular-season games.

LAST YEAR RECAP

• The Falcons concluded the 2016-17 season with an overall record of 23-5 and a conference mark of 16-2.
• Albertus Magnus won their seventh GNAC title after defeating GNAC rival Lasell College, 101-83, in the championship game.
• Following the win over the Lasers, the Falcons made their sixth appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
• Head Coach Mitch Oliver earned his 200th career win in the 85-82 win over Anna Maria back on January 21, 2017.

WALTERS EARNS END OF THE YEAR HONORS
Last year, Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) received year-end honors after finishing his junior year averaging 20.7 points, 13.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He was named to the 2017 D3Hoops All-American Second Team, 2017 All-Region Second Team and earned a spot on the NABC Division III All-District Second Team. He was also named GNAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after the Falcons defeated Lasell College in the GNAC Championship.

A TRIO OF FALCONS EARN GNAC HONORS
Forward Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.), guard Grant Ellis (Newark, N.J.) and guard Devin Coleman (Bridgeport, Conn.) earned All-Conference honors. Walters was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Player of the Year as well as earned First Team honors. Ellis earned Second Team honors while Coleman earned Third Team. Guard Jemaa Yuori (Ghana) earned a spot on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team.

YUORI LANDS SPOT ON GNAC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) announced its All-Academic Team for the 2016-17 school year. Fifty-seven student-athletes from Albertus Magnus College were among the 893 members, including Jemaa Yuori