STANDISH, ME.- The Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team opened Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a convincing 85-73 victory over the Monks of Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Saturday afternoon inside the Harold Alfond Center. 

Four different players wracked up double-digit points, while Tyreek Perkins (New Haven, Conn.) led the offense with a 23 point-performance and Justice Washington (Hamden, Conn.) picked up his second double-double of the season (18 points, 14 rebounds).       

THE BASICS  
Final: Albertus Magnus 85  | Saint Joseph's Maine 73 
Records: Albertus Magnus (3-1, 1-0 GNAC) | Saint Joseph's Maine (1-7, 0-1 GNAC)    
Box Score

HOW IT HAPPENED 
Albertus opened regulation with the early 4-0 lead behind back-to-back layups from Washington and Kevin Crawford (Bridgeport, Conn.), but the Monks quickly retaliated with four unanswered points to even the game at 4-all three minutes in. 

The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, with the Monks taking an 8-7 lead on a made free throw. Albertus countered with a 4-0 push, behind lay-ups from Washington and Terry Dawkins (Bronx, N.Y.) to take an 11-8 lead, but the Monks responded with an explosive 8-0 run to retake the lead, 16-11, with 13:28 left to play. 

Davon Warner (New Haven, Conn.) got the Falcons back on track, as the senior point guard nailed a three-point jumper to make it a two-point game, 16-14. From there, the Falcons and Monks continued to trade leads until a steal and fast-break layup from Warner gave the visitors a three-point cushion, 21-18, with just over 10 minutes remaining.  

Soon after, a Mekhi Warren (New Haven, Conn.) free throw sparked a short burst that found the Falcons up eight, 27-19, but the Monks followed up with a 9-3 tear, despite another trey from Warner, to cut the deficit to two, 30-28, with just under five minutes to play in the half. 

A pair of made free throws from Eric Burgos (Manchester, Conn.) was immediately countered by a Monks' lay-up to keep the deficit at two, 32-30. Burgos then struck again, netting his first career trey to push the Falcon advantage back up to five, 35-30. 

The Monks kept within arms reach of the Falcons, 35-34, but Qualon Wilkes (Bridgeport, Conn.) drained another three-pointer to make it a four-point game, 38-34, with 41 seconds left. The Monks were not deterred, putting in a quick lay-up in the final 15 seconds to send the teams into the half, with Albertus holding the slight 38-36 lead.   

The Monks opened the second half with a quick lay-up to knot the game at 38-all, before Perkins struck gold with another long trey to regain the three-point advantage for the Falcons, 41-38. The Monks, however, surged back with a 16-6 run to take a 54-45 lead, six minutes into the second half. 

The Falcons then stormed back with a 21-2 run to retake the lead 66-56, behind six points from Washington and three-pointers from Wilkes and Perkins with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation. Shortly after, Saint Joseph's  Nicholas Curtis hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it a four-point game, 66-62, with 6:47 left in regulation and forcing an Albertus time-out. 

Washington burst out of the break with an easy lay-up to increase the lead to six, 68-62. A technical foul by the Monks at the 5:37 mark sent Dawkins to the charity stripe. The forward sank the shot, pushing the Falcon's lead to five, 69-64. 

The Falcons soon went on a 12-4 run, pushing the score to 81-68 with less than two minutes to play. A 5-2 run by the Monks was in vain, as the Falcons controlled the ball for the final minute, with Perkins sinking a pair of last-second free throws to seal the 85-73 victory for the Falcons.    

TEAM STATS 

• Albertus: 47.6 % FG | 37.5 % 3PT | 64.0 % FT
• Saint Joseph's (Me): 43.1 % FG | 34.8 % 3PT | 64.3 % FT

KEY PERFORMERS
Albertus:

• Tyreek Perkins  - 23 points (7-12 FG, 3-4 3PT, 6-7 FT) | 8 rebounds | 4 assists
• Justice Washington - 18 points (8-10 FG, 2-4 FT) | 14 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 blocks | 2 steals
• Terry Dawkins - 15 points (6-8 FG, 3-5 FT) | 5 rebounds | 2 assists
• Davon Warner - 10 points (4-14 FG, 2-9 3PT, 0-3 FT) | 3 rebounds | 4 assists | 3 steals

Saint Joseph's (Me):

• Nicholas Curtis  - 25 points (7-12 FG, 4-8 3PT, 7-10 FT) | 2 rebounds | 4 assists
• Griffin Foley - 17 points (7-15 FG, 3-5 3PT) | 5 rebounds | 1 assist | 3 blocks | 1 steal
• Ashtyn Abbott - 10 points (5-6 FG, 0-2 FT) | 2 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal

NOTEWORTHY

• This is the 25th all-time meeting between the two programs. 
• The Falcons hold the edge with a 16-9 record. 
• With today's win, Coach Oliver has reached 276 career victories.  
• Perkins' 23 point-performance was a season-high for the senior. 
• Washington's 18 points and 14 rebounds were season-highs for the junior. 
• Dawkins' 15 points were a season-high. 
• Warner has scored 10 points in back-to-back games.
• Burgos scored his first career points in tonight's game.

UP NEXT
The Falcons welcome the AMCATS of Anna Maria College to "The Nest" for a conference clash on Wednesday, December 8th inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM!