NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Saikwon Williams (Norwalk, Conn.) fueled a late second half rally for the Albertus Men's College men's basketball team as it defeated Connecticut College, 71-68 in overtime at The Nest on the Falcons' campus.

Williams scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the second half and overtime as the Falcons rallied from a 62-53 deficit with just 3:55 remaining. Justice Washington (Hamden, Conn.) scored eight, including the bucket to send the game into overtime.

Tazhon Daniels (New Haven, Conn.) scored ten points Kevin Crawford (Bridgeport, Conn.).

The win was the Falcons fifth straight and the second game during the streak that they won in overtime.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Albertus Magnus 71 | Conn. College 68 (OT)

RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (14-3) | Conn. College (12-5)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Camels jumped out to a 7-2 lead after a Ben Rice three pointer, but was answered quickly by Daniels who hit a three of his own to make it a 7-5 game. Albertus took its first lead on its following possession on a traditional three-point play from Malcolm Duncanson (West Haven, Conn.) who was fouled while making a layup in traffic.
• After the first lead for Albertus, the teams exchanged leads 11 times over the next 12 minutes as no team was able to take a lead larger than three points until late in the half. The Camels took a 25-22 lead after a three from Billy Whelan with 3:53 left.  After two free throws gave Conn. College  a 27-22 lead, Avery Hinnant (Naugatuck, Conn.) made it a three-point game with a layup.
• David Murray gave the Camels its biggest lead of the half at 30-24, but the Falcons were able to rally after a jumper from Antonio Bonilla (Tenafly, N.J.) and a three from Gabe Herling (Salisbury, Md.) cut their deficit to 33-31 at the half.
• Albertus opened with  a basket from Daniels to tie the game at 33-33, but the Camels scored the next nine points, including six from Murray and a three from Elias Espinosa.
• The Falcons once again cut their deficit to two points, scoring the next six points capped by a dunk from Washington with 14:23 remaining.
• Conn. College took their first nine-point lead at the 8:35 mark and led by that much on three different occasions, the final time at the 3:55 mark after two free throws from Jarron Flynn. 
• On the ensuing possession, Bonilla got the rally started with a three to cut the deficit to 62-56 with 3:44 remaining. After a turnover from the Camels, Daniels threw an alley-oop from beyond the three-point line and Wiliams caught it and placed it off the glass to make it a four-point game.
• Ben Rice was called for an offensive foul on the next possession for the Camels. Williams once again answered. This time, Crawford flashed to a hole in the Camels' 2-3 zone. As the defender collapsed on Crawford, he found a cutting Williams who made the layup to make it a 62-60 game. 
• A layup from Murray put the Falcons back up four points, but once again, Williams would score his third straight basket with 41 seconds left to make it a 64-62 as he spun in the lane off of his defender.
• Crawford stole the ball on the next possession and Albertus called a timeout. On the possession after the time out, Washington was fed a pass from Williams - who was double-teamed - and made the tying layup with 34 seconds left. Conn College missed at the buzzer sending the game to overtime.
• In overtime, after two free throws from Crawford to give Albertus its first lead since the first half, Slade found Williams on a fastbreak to make it a 68-64 game. Williams closed his monumental performance with just over two minutes left as he crashed the boards on a missed layup and tipped it in to give Albertus its biggest lead at 70-64.

TEAM STATS

Albertus: 42.2 FG% | 20.0 3PT% | 65.0 FT%

Conn. College: 40.7 FG% | 37.5 3PT% | 72.0 FT%

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

Albertus

Saikwon Williams 18 Points | 9-12 FG | 10 Rebounds

Tazhon Daniels 10 Points | 4 Assists | 2 Steals

Justice Washington 8 Points | 5 Rebounds

Kevin Crawford 8 Points | 8-10 FT | 3 Rebounds | 3 Steals

Conn. College

David Murray 21 | 10-18 FG | 6 Rebounds

Elias Espinosa 13 Points | 4 Assists | 3 Rebounds

NOTEWORTHY

• It is the second straight game between the two teams that went into overtime. Last season, the Falcons won 73-70.
• It was the first career double-double for Williams. His 18 points were a career-high and his ten rebounds were the second most in his career.
• The Albertus bench scored 41 points. It was the fourth time this season they scored at least 40 points. 
• Albertus is now 4-0 in overtime games this season.
• Herling finished with a season-high two three-pointers. 

UP NEXT

The Falcons remain at home and host Rivier at 3 p.m. on January 20 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference game.