Freshman Kenny Armstead (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds to lead the No. 23 Albertus Magnus men's basketball team to an 81-77 victory over Lasell College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday.

The Falcons improve to 4-0 on the year and 1-0 in GNAC action, while Lasell drops to 1-5 overall with its fourth-straight loss.

Armstead came off the bench to tally in his best game of the season as he added three blocked shots to go along with his career high in points and rebounds.

Both teams shot around 40% in the first half of play as Lasell went into the locker room at the half with a two-point lead.

Lasell came out in the second half with an 8-2 run in a span of 2:30 to take a 44-36 lead before Albertus answered with a 6-0 run of its own to get to within two at 44-42.  Lasell held its lead in the second half until a free throw by Armstead tied the contest at 64 with 4:50 to go in the frame.

With a 12-4 run, the Falcons took an eight-point lead, their largest of the day with 53 seconds left on the clock as Arshad Jackson (Hartford, Conn.) hit a free throw, his sixth of the contest. Lasell cut the score to within two with four seconds left but Armstead knocked in two free throws to seal the victory.

Junior Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.), who was tagged as both the GNAC and ECAC Player of the Week earlier this week, led all Falcons with 29 points as he shot 11-of-20 from the field.

Both teams shot over 50% from the floor in the second half as the Falcons hit 18-of-24 attempts from the charity stripe in the frame.

Sean Bartanza led all scorers with 38 points for the Lasers.  Lasell scored 22 points off 13 Albertus turnovers, while the Falcons scored 26 second-chance points.

James Jennings (Stratford, Conn.) added 18 points and five assists for the Falcons in 34 minutes of work, while Jackson recorded nine points and two steals.

Albertus returns to action on Tuesday night as the Falcons host Trinity (Conn.) in a non-conference match-up. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.