NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Deivone Tanksley (Hartford, Conn.) recorded his first double-double of the season,  but the Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team fell, 93-89, in their home opener against the visiting Montclair State Red Hawks in The Nest on Wednesday night.

Tanskley notched 20 points and 12 rebounds, along with four steals, two blocks and a two assists. Ta'zhon Daniels (New Haven, Conn.) also netted 20 points to go along with five assists, a steal and a defensive board.

THE BASICS

FINAL: Montclair State 93 | Albertus Magnus 89

RECORDS: Albertus (0-3) | Montclair State (2-0)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks opened the night with the first five points before Ray Ford, Jr. (Jersey City, N.J.) and Malcolm Duncanson (West Haven, Conn.) leveled the score. Less than two minutes into the first half, Ford connected on a three-pointer, followed by an offensive board and layup by Duncanson to tie the game, 5-5.
• Albertus Magnus battled back to build a four-point lead seven minutes in, capped off by a steal and layup by Ford. The junior also ignited the run with a made jumper, followed by buckets from Kevin Crawford (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Tahijj Hunter (Mount Laurel, N.J.), both on the assist from Daniels to put the Falcons up, 17-13.
• At the halfway mark of the first half, the visitors responded with a 14-2 run to reclaim a 27-19 lead. The run was capped by a Quantavious Rogers layup with 9:14 remaining. 
• The Falcons began to whittle away at the deficit, battling back over the next six minutes to eventually level it at 29 and take the lead 23 seconds later on a three-point shot by Ford.
• A three-point jump shot by Samar Abdullah with 1:31 remaining put Montclair State up by one, 34-33 to begin an 11-2 run that closed out the half.
• The home side kicked off the second half with a 14-4 run over the opening seven minutes to take a three-point advantage. Tanksley forced a Red Hawks turnover, which allowed Duncanson to net the first points by Albertus. Tanksley's made layup off the blocked shot and defensive rebound by Crawford ended the scoring stretch as Albertus led, 49-46 at 13:02 in the second.
• Montclair bounced back with a jumper from Jacob Morales and a layup from Abdullah to reclaim the lead, and after the Falcons briefly tied it at 50 off Crawford's free throw, Morales connected on a three to vault Montclair in front again.
• With the two sides level at 55 after Daniels' jump shot at 9:45, the Red Hawks embarked on a nine-point flurry over the next two minutes to build a three-possession lead. Albertus Magnus cut the deficit down again, eventually tying the game after two free throws from Daniels to make it 74-74 with 4:29 left.
• Ahmad Robertson answered with a layup, free throw, and three-point make consecutively to push the lead to six, and Mike Jackson converted a layup to put Montclair up eight with 2:45 left. The Falcons came within one a final time with 13 seconds remaining, but the Red Hawks sank five free throws down the stretch to seal the road victory.

TEAM STATS

Albertus

54.4 FG% | 35.7 3PT % | 73.3 FT%

Montclair State

49.3 FG% | 37.9 3PT % |  72.7 FT%

TOP PERFORMERS

Albertus

• Deivone Tanksley 20 Points | 12 Rebounds | 4 Steals | 2 Assists | 2 Blocks | 5-9 FG | 1-1 3PT | 9-10 FT
• Ta'zhon Daniels 20 Points | 5 Assists | 1 Steal | 1 Rebound | 10-11 FT
• Malcolm Duncanson 15 Points | 6 Rebounds | 2 Assists | 7-12 FG
• Ray Ford, Jr. 12 Points | 5 Rebounds | 3 Assists | 3 Steals | 5-8

Montclair State

• Jacob Morales 19 Points | 8 Rebounds | 4 Assists | 1 Steal | 1 Block
• Ahmad Robertson 20 Points | 4-4 FT | 7-12 FG | 3 Rebounds | 4 Assists | 4 Steals 

NOTEWORTHY

• Daniels has scored at least 20 points in back-to-back games.
• Duncanson has scored in double figures in each of his first three games.

UP NEXT

The Falcons travel to UMass Dartmouth for the LaFrance Hospitality Tournament on November 16-17. Albertus tips off against Trinity College for game one at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.