NEWTON, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team opened 2022 with a road setback to the Lasers of Lasell University, 102-83, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) clash Wednesday evening inside the Lasell Athletic Center. 

Senior Davon Warner (New Haven, Conn.) led the Falcons' attack with a season-high 24 points, including six first-half three-pointers. Junior Mekhi Warren (New Haven, Conn.) also recorded a season-high in points with 22, while Tyreek Perkins (New Haven, Conn.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 19 points.

THE BASICS
Final: Lasell 102 | Albertus Magnus 83
Records: Albertus Magnus (5-3, 3-1) |  Lasell (7-4, 4-1)
Box Score

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons raced out to an early 8-2 lead over the first 1:18 of play. Warner got the Falcons on the board first with a long three before Qualon Wilkes (Bridgeport, Conn.) put in an easy lay-up and Perkins nailed his own trey 15 seconds later. Shortly after, a Lasell three from Kevin Nunez broke up the scoreless drought for the hosts, but his shot was countered by a Perkins lay-up to make the score 10-5. From there, the teams would trade baskets over the next two minutes to bring the score to 16-11, in favor of the Falcons.

Lasell caught fire from there, going on a 13-2 run to take a six-point lead, 24-18, with 10:37 remaining in the first stanza. Warner got the Falcons back on track, as the senior guard swished back-to-back three's to tie the game at 24-all, but the Lasers countered with four unanswered points to regain the 28-24 advantage. 

Soon after, Warner struck again, this time nailing his third shot from behind the arc keeping the Falcons to within one, 28-27. Less than a minute later, Perkins took advantage of a missed Laser's lay-up and launched an arcing shot through the net for his second trey of the night, giving the Falcons the 30-28 lead. 

A pair of made free throws for the Lasers tied the game at 30-all, before a Lasers' slam dunk gave the host's the 32-30 lead. Terry Dawkins (Bronx, N.Y) tied the game back up with a lay-up, but the Lasers' Karim Belhouchet nailed a trey to put the hosts on top, 35-32, with just under six minutes remaining in the half.  

The Laser's lead was short-lived, as Warren put together a three-point play to tie the game back up at 35-all. The Lasers retaliated with a 4-0 run, trying to distance themselves from the Falcons, but the blue-and-white continued battling, with Perkins sinking a pair of free throws and a three-pointer to give the Falcons the one-point lead, 40-39, with four minutes to play in the first stanza. 

A free throw and lay-up gave the hosts the 42-40 advantage, before Warner struck gold again, sinking his fifth trey of the night and giving Albertus the 43-42 advantage. The teams battled to a 45-45 tie at the two-minute mark, before Warner struck again, sinking his sixth three of the half and giving Albertus the three-point advantage, 48-45, with 1:56 remaining in the half. 

A three-point play from the Lasers gave the hosts the two-point lead 52-50 before Wilkes sank a lay-up to tie the game at 52-all. With the clock ticking down, Albertus remained in control offensively as a free throw from Wilkes and a made lay-up from Warren gave the Falcons the 55-52 lead heading into the halftime break.       

The Falcons opened the second stanza with a 10-2 run over the first 2:54 minutes of play, with six points from Dawkins and four points from Warren to give the visitors the 11-point lead 65-54. The Lasers roared back with an 11-0 run to tie the game at 65-all, before a made free throw gave the hosts the 66-65 lead with 13:33 remaining in the game. 

A thunderous Warren dunk negated the free throws and gave the Falcons the 67-66 lead, before Warren struck again putting together a three-point play to extend the Falcon's lead to four, 70-66, with just over 12 minutes remaining in the half. The Lasers responded right away, as EJ Day swooshed a trey to make it a one-point game, 70-69. Day and Warren traded lay-ups to keep the one-point lead in favor of the Falcons, 72-71, but a 12-1 run gave the Lasers a 10-point cushion, 83-73, forcing Albertus to call a timeout with 7:48 left on the clock. 

Out of the break, Lasell put together a 5-0 run to take an 88-73 lead, before a Perkins lay-up ended the Falcon's scoring drought and brought them to within 13, 88-75. The Lasers responded with a 7-1 run before Warner hit another trey to make it 95-79 with just under three minutes remaining in regulation. The Lasers cobbled together a 7-4 run to close out the game and walk away with a 102-83 victory.

TEAM STATS

• Albertus: 40.8% FG | 30.3% 3PT | 65.2% FT
• Lasell: 54.2% FG | 55.0% 3PT | 68.4% FT

KEY PERFORMERS

Albertus:

• Davon Warner - 24 points (7-17 FG, 7-17 3PT, 3-6 FT) | 3 rebounds | 1 assist | 2 steals | 1 block 
• Mekhi Warren - 22 points (10-12 FG, 2-2 FT) | 8 rebounds | 1 assist | 2 blocks 
• Tyreek Perkins - 19 points (6-18 FG, 3-6 3PT, 4-6 FT) | 5 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal 

Lasell:

• EJ Day - 32 points (11-17 FG, 4-6 3PT, 6-8 FT) | 3  rebounds | 2 assists 
• Kevin Nunez - 24 points (10-21 FG, 1-3 3PT, 3-4 FT) | 11 rebounds | 2 assists | 1 steal
• Kevin Vanderhorst - 20 points (8-15 FG, 3-5 3PT, 1-1 FT) | 14 rebounds | 5 assists | 2 blocks
• Jonathan Friberg - 10 points (4-6 FG, 2-2 FT) | 10 rebounds | 5 assists | 2 steals | 1 block 

NOTEWORTHY

• This is the 29th all-time meeting between the Falcons and Lasers. 
• With tonight's win, Lasell pushes the all-time series record against Albertus to 22-8.
• This game saw nine ties and 13 lead changes. 
• Warren's 22-point performance was a season-high for the junior.
• Warner recorded a season-high 24 points. 
• Warren and Jordan Williams (New Haven, Conn.) led the defensive unit with two blocks each. 
• Victor Rosario (New Haven, Conn.) made his first collegiate appearance for the Falcons and tallied a team-high four assists. 

UP NEXT

The Falcons return to action on Saturday, January 15th with a road conference tilt against Emmanuel (Mass.) College. Tip-off is set for 1PM in Boston, Mass.