Led by 26 points from Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.), the Albertus Magnus men's basketball team upset the No. 23 Wesleyan (CT) Cardinals 82-73 in the Falcons' 2012-13 home opener on Sunday.
Watson had a team-high 13 points at the half as he shot 4-of-7 from the field and tallied 13 more points in the second frame as he finished the contest 50-percent from the field and 7-of-11 from the charity stripe.
The Falcons (2-0) shot just 38.5-percent from the floor in the first half as they went into the break with a two-point advantage at 35-33. Albertus came out of the break with an 11-2 run to take a 46-35 lead less than four minutes into the second frame. The Cardinals (2-2) got to within one at 57-56 with 8:51 to go in regulation before the Falcons put together a 14-4 run in a span of four minutes to extend their lead.
The Falcons hit seven out of 12 attempts from the free-throw line in the final four minutes of play to help secure the victory over their first ranked opponent of the 2012-13 season. Wesleyan's ranking came in the D3hoops.com Top-25 Preseason Poll on Oct. 17.
James Jennings (Stratford, Conn.) and Jefferson Lora (Bronx, N.Y.) both registered double figures for the second-straight game. Jennings finished with 16 points and five assists in 37 minutes of work, while Lora added 10 points and nine rebounds in the win.
Julian Sanders (Trumbull, Conn.) shot 100-percent from the floor, including a 2-of-2 clip from behind the arc. He added two blocked shots and one steal with his nine points.
Mike Callaghan led the Cardinals with a double-double as he recorded 23 points and 12 rebounds. Callaghan shot 10-of-21 from the field as the Cardinals finished the game shooting 41.4-percent. Both Derick Beresford and Shasha Brown added 17 points apiece for the 23rd-ranked Cardinals.
The Falcons' largest lead of the game came with 32 seconds on the clock as they took a 13-point lead at 81-68.
In their last 10 games against Wesleyan, the Falcons are now 4-6 against the Cardinals. In the teams' last meeting on Dec. 2, 2010, the Falcons dropped a 75-70 decision on the Cardinals' home floor.
Albertus will host Mitchell College in their next contest, which is set for Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7:00 p.m. in New Haven.
