CHICOPEE, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team got contributions from 10 different scorers, including three double-doubles from Terry Dawkins (Bronx, N.Y.), Tyreek Perkins (New Haven, Conn.), and Justice Washington (Hamden, Conn.), in a 98-78 win at Elms College on Tuesday evening inside the Maguire Center for Health, Fitness, and Athletics.

Dawkins led the offensive attack with a team-high 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Perkins followed close behind with a 20-point, 12-rebound effort. Washington added 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Davon Warner (New Haven, Conn.) and Mekhi Warren (New Haven, Conn.) tallied 12 points apiece.     

THE BASICS
Final: Albertus Magnus 98 | Elms 78  
Records: Albertus Magnus (7-3, 5-1 GNAC) | Elms (0-12, 0-7 GNAC)
Box Score

HOW IT HAPPENED

Albertus struck first on a made lay-up from Washington to take the early 2-0 lead, but the Blazers quickly roared back with a 4-0 run to take the 4-2 lead. Shortly after, Perkins induced an offensive foul and headed to the charity stripe, where the senior point guard hit one of the shots. Perkins then retaliated seconds later with a lay-up out of transition to give Albertus the 5-4 lead. Elms put together a 5-0 spurt to increase its lead to five, 9-5, before Warner nailed a jumper from just inside the arc and Warren hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 9-all. 

Following the 9-9 tie, with just under 15 minutes remaining in the first, a Perkins' jumper sparked a 9-0 run that increased the Falcons' lead to nine, 18-9, forcing Elms to call a timeout to readjust. From there, the hosts battled back to within five, 18-13, but Albertus maintained its composure and pushed its lead back up to eight, 24-16, following a made lay-up from Washington.

A short 5-2 burst from the Blazers brought the score to within five, 26-21, before a jumper from Warren ignited a 13-5 run, capped by a monstrous slam dunk from Warren, that put the Falcons ahead 39-26 with 3:54 left in the stanza. Elms slowly began to chip away at the Falcons' lead as the hosts trailed by 10, 48-38, heading into the halftime break, despite trailing by as much as 17, 48-31, at the 1:34 mark.

Warner wasted no time out of the break, opening up the second half with a long trey to give the Falcons the 13-point lead, 51-38, but shortly after Elms' DJ Edelen nailed his own three to send the deficit back down to 10, 51-41. From there, Albertus slowly began building momentum offensively as the Falcons widened the gap to 15, 62-47, with 14:39 left on the clock. 

Two minutes later, another 5-2 burst, capped by a long three-pointer from Rob Tindley (Lawnside, N.J.), increased the Falcons' advantage to 67-49, but the Blazers responded with their own 5-0 push, to make it a 67-54 showing and forcing a full timeout from the Falcons. Out of the pause, Isaiah Lewis (New Haven, Conn.) netted his first three-pointer of the night, before Dawkins went on a quick spurt of his own, to increase the lead to 20, 74-54.

An 11-2 run by Elms was highlighted by eight points from Cecil Villa, and cut the Albertus lead in half, 76-65, with just under nine minutes to play. Dawkins got the Falcons back on track, as the senior forward put in an easy lay-up to expand the lead to 13, 78-65. Perkins followed suit a moment later, putting in his own lay-up to make it an 80-65 contest and forcing an Elms timeout with 6:34 left in regulation. 

Out of the short break came Washington, who quickly put in a pair of easy lay-ups for a 4-0 burst, increasing the Falcons' lead to 84-65. The teams traded baskets from there, with Albertus taking a 95-74 lead into the last minute. A three-point play by the Blazers in the final minute was countered by a made three from Tindley in the final seconds, and the Falcons soared to a convincing 98-78 victory. 

TEAM STATS

• Albertus: 47.3% FG | 23.1 % 3PT | 58.3 % FT
• Elms: 36.5 % FG | 34.1 % 3PT | 59.1 % FT

KEY PERFORMERS
Albertus:

• Terry Dawkins - 21 points (7-11 FG, 7-8 FT) | 14 rebounds | 1  steal
• Tyreek Perkins - 20 points (9-17 FG, 1-4 3 PT, 1-4 FT) | 12 rebounds | 6 assists | 3 steals
• Justice Washington - 13 points (6-6 FG, 1-6 FT) | 12 rebounds | 1 block 
• Mekhi Warren - 12 points (4-13 FG, 4-4 FT) | 7 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal | 3 blocks
• Davon Warner - 12 points (5-17 FG, 2-11 3 PT) | 2 rebounds | 2 assists | 4 steals 

Elms:

• Cecil Villa - 24 points (8-18 FG, 6-12 3PT, 2-2 FT) | 4 rebounds | 2 assists | 2 steals 
• Terron Griffin - 15 points (5-9 FG, 0-1 3PT, 5-11 FT) |  9 rebounds | 3 assists | 2 steals 
• Roy Mckeithen - 11 points (3-14 FG, 1-6 3PT, 4-6 FT) | 1 rebound | 1 assist

NOTEWORTHY

• This is the third all-time meeting between the Falcons and Blazers.
• Following tonight's win, the Falcons now hold a 2-1 edge in the all-time series.
• This is just the second time this season the Falcons have recorded multiple double-doubles in the same game.
• This is the first game thus far with at least three double-double performances.   
• Albertus recorded a season-high in offensive rebounds (28), defensive rebounds (38), total rebounds (66), and assists (21).
• Warren led the defensive attack with three blocks.
• Perkins' double-double was his first of the season.
• Dawkins' double-double was his third of the season.
• Washington's double-double was his fifth of the season.

UP NEXT
The men's basketball team returns home on Saturday, January 22 as the Falcons host the Cadets of Norwich University. Tip-off is set for 3 PM in New Haven, Conn. inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center!