New Haven, Conn. -  The No. 18 Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team opened Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action with a thrilling home win over Colby-Sawyer College, 74-71, Saturday evening in "The Nest" located inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center. 

THE BASICS
FINAL: No. 18 Albertus Magnus 74 | Colby-Sawyer 71
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (12-2, 1-0 GNAC) | Colby-Sawyer (6-8, 0-1 GNAC)
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED
Colby-Sawyer opened regulation with an early 9-5 advantage before pushing its lead to six, 13-7. Albertus countered back with a 6-3 scoring run, highlighted by three points from Davon Warner (New Haven, Conn.) and Justice Washington (Hamden, Conn.), to take a 16-13 lead with 12:05 remaining in the half.

Trailing by one, 21-20, Colby-Sawyer charged back as the visitors scored four unanswered points to put the Falcons in a 24-23 hole. Following two lead changes, Albertus found themselves up 30-26 after two made free throw attempts from Rob Tindley(Lawnside, N.J.), but the visitors charged back once again trimming the deficit to within two, 33-31.

Albertus managed to hold off the Chargers for the remainder of the half and led 39-34 heading into the locker. The Falcons biggest lead of the game came at the 10:48 mark in the first as the hosts led by five, 21-16.

Albertus controlled the opening six minutes of the second half until a pair of made free throws from Scott Lampron tied the game once more, 44-44. Colby-Sawyer's lead blossomed to as many as eight, 55-47, on a Kyle Landrigan layup with just under 10 minutes remaining.

Trailing by five, 56-51, sophomore Terry Dawkins (Bronx, N.Y.) sparked an 8-0 run behind a pair of made free throws to put the Falcons ahead 59-56.The lead see-sawed over the next few minutes until Colby-Sawyer's Patrick Coffey nailed a deep three to even the game at 70-70 with 1:01 left on the clock.

Freshman Marquan Watson (Waterbury, Conn.) took matters into his own hands as the rookie forward scored the final four-points needed to propel the men's basketball team past Colby-Sawyer, 74-71.

TEAM STATS

• Albertus: 36.5% FG | 20% 3PT | 68.1% FT
• Colby-Sawyer: 38.8% FG | 22.7% 3PT | 51.9% FT
• This game saw 11 ties and 15 lead changes.
• The Chargers won the battle on the boards, 45-43, and held an 18-14 edge in second chance points.
• The Falcons' bench scored 38 of their 74 points.
• Colby-Sawyer outshot the Falcons in the second half, 37-35. 

KEY PERFORMERS
Albertus:

• Tyreek Perkins - 14 points (3-7 FG, 1-3 3PT, 7-9 FT) | 2 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal
• Rob Tindley - 13 points (3-9 FG, 1-5 3PT, 6-6 FT) | 2 rebounds | 1 block
• Qualon Wilkes (Bridgeport, Conn.) - 13 points (5-6 FG, 3-4 FT) | 1 assist | 2 steals

Colby-Sawyer:

• Patrick Coffey - 23 points (8-19 FG, 3-8 3PT, 4-7 FT) | 5 rebounds | 2 assists 
• Dana Bean - 16 points (6-13 FG, 4-11 FT) | 8 rebounds | 4 assists
• Terrance Harvey Jr.  - 14 points (6-15 FG, 1-7 3PT, 1-2 FT) | 5 rebounds | 5 assists | 3 steals

NOTEWORTHY

• This is the ninth meeting between the two programs.
• Following tonight's win, the Falcons are now 5-4 against the Chargers in the all-time series. 
• The Falcons remain undefeated at home, 7-0.
• Albertus recorded a new season-high in blocks with nine. 
• Damian Grant (Waterbury, Conn.), Justice Washington(Hamden, Conn.) and Liam Perryman (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) finished the evening with a team-high two blocks. 
• Grant led the Falcons in rebounding with seven while Watson posted six of his own behind four defensive rebounds and two offensive rebounds, respectively. 
• Wilkes 13-point performance was a season-best for the sophomore guard. 

UP NEXT
The men's basketball team continues GNAC play with a road clash against Regis (Mass.) College on Tuesday, January 21 at 7:00 PM in Weston, Mass.