NASHUA, N.H. - The Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Rivier, 78-75 in a tightly-contested Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game on Saturday afternoon on the road.

Deivone Tanksley (Hartford, Conn.) and- Lennox Serrano (Waterbury, Conn.) each posted a double-double for the Falcons. Tanksley had 14 points with 11 rebounds, while Serrano scored 11 points off the bench with 10 rebounds. Ray Ford, Jr. (Jersey City, N.J.) finished with an all-around performance of 12 points, six rebounds, eight assists and five steals.

THE BASICS

FINAL: Albertus Magnus 78 | Rivier University 75

RECORDS: Albertus (9-9, 5-2 GNAC) | Rivier (10-8, 3-4 GNAC)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Malcolm Duncanson (West Haven, Conn.) scored the first four points for the Falcons early on, but Rivier would jump out to a 9-4 lead just over three minutes into the game as Robenson Baguidy and Matt Constant hit a three. Albertus answered with a three from Yayo Rodriguez (Hartford, Conn.) to cut the Albertus deficit to 9-7.
• The Raiders followed with another 9-4 run of their own to go up 18-11 as Baguidy scored four more points ti make it an 18-11 game with 13:19  on the clock.
• Albertus rallied to take a 22-20 lead after an 11-2 run. Tahijj Hunter (Mount Laurel, N.J.) hit two free throws to start the run. Serrano and Crawford followed with a layup sandwiched between a pair of free throws by the Raiders to make it a 20-17 game with 11:40 left. Hunter scored four of the next five points for Albertus as he scored on a fast break after a steal from Ford, Jr. led to a layup. Two Albertus possessions later, Ford, Jr.'s pass led to another layup to put Albertus up by two points.
• Rivier took the lead back after back-to-back threes from Odarius Cade and Constant made it a 26-22. The Raiders would go on to take their biggest lead of the half at 31-23 with 6:44 left. 
• Once again, Albertus made a big rally to take a brief 34-33 after another 11-2 run. Ford, Jr. hit a three in transition after a steal from Kevin Crawford (Bridgeport, Conn.) to start the run. After two free-throws from the Raiders, Serrano grabbed an offensive rebound off an Albertus miss to score and followed that up with a thunderous dunk after another steal on the defensive end by Ford, Jr. to make it a 33-30 game. Rodriguez made a layup after two offensive rebounds from the Falcons on a possession and Colin Garretson (East Haven, Conn.) sank two free throws to give Albertus its final lead of the first half.
• Serrano scored two more points in the half, but the Raiders finished on a 9-2 run to take a 42-36 lead into the half.
• Tanksley and Duncanson both made early baskets for Albertus in the second half, but the Falcons still trailed 44-40 just over a minute into the second frame.
• Kyler Bosse hit a three to to put Rivier up, 50-43, but Ford, Jr. Answered on the other end with one of his own off a pass from Rodriguez to make it a 50-46 game.
• Albertus stayed in striking distance and tied the game on three different occassions, thanks to Tanksley. First, he grabbed an offensive rebound off his own miss to tie the game, 56-56, less than 90 seconds later, he burried a three to tie the game 61-61 with 11:12 left. After two free throws, he tied the game once again at 63-63.
• After a miss on the offensive end from Albertus, Serrano grabbed a rebound and was rewarded with a three on the offensive end on a pass from Ford, Jr. to give the Falcons their first lead of the second half at 66-63 with 6:58 left.
• Rivier briefly took the lead back at 67-66, but a layup from Ford, Jr. made back-to-back layups, sandwiched between a Rivier free throw to go back up, 70-68.
• On the ensuing Rivier possession, Serrano stole the ball, leading to a three-point attempt from Jayquan Kirkland (Stratford, Conn.). No one from Rivier attempted to go for the rebound as Kirkland grabbed the ball off of his own miss and made a layup in the paint for a 72-68 lead for Albertus with 3:11 left.
• With Albertus up, 74-70, Constant made a three for Rivier to make it a one-point game. A heads-up inbounds pass from Tanksley to Kirkland on the ensuing possession, led directly to a layup to give Albertus a 76-73 lead. Bosse made a layup on the other end, followed by two free throws from Ford, Jr. However, a final three-point attempt from Baguidy missed and the Falcons held on to the win.

TEAM STATS

Albertus

37.8 FG% | 26.3 3PT% | 68.0 FT% 

Rivier

52.1 FG% | 47.4 3PT% | 66.7 FT%

LEADERS

Albertus

Deivone Tanksley 14 Points | 11 Rebounds | 1 Block

Ray Ford, Jr. 12 Points | 6 Rebounds | 8 Assists | 5 Steals

Lennox Serrano 11 Points | 10 Rebounds

Rivier

Kyler Bosse 26 Points | 10-15 FG | 4-4 3PT | 4 Rebounds

Matt Constant 20 Points | 9-10 FT | 4 Assists

Robenson Baguidy 11 Points | 5-7 FG

NOTEWORTHY

• Ford, Jr. has scored in double digits in six of his last seven games.
• Tanksley now has six double-doubles on the season.
• Serrano now has two double-doubles this season.

UP NEXT

Albertus heads back home to The Nest as it hosts Elms on Wednesday, January 29 at 7:30 p.m. in a GNAC matchup.