Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.) scored 35 points and hit 9-of-13 from behind the arc to lift the Albertus Magnus men's basketball team to a 90-59 conference victory over Rivier on Saturday afternoon. 

With the win, the Falcons improve to 7-1 on the year and 3-0 in the GNAC standings to mark the best start for the program in the last 15 years.

The win against Rivier marks the Falcons' fifth-straight against the Raiders as they swept Rivier in all three games played between the two programs last season.

Watson led all scorers as he finished the day shooting 13-of-20 from the floor. He added five assists in the contest to improve his tally on the season to 17. Today's 35-point effort was also his eighth-consecutive contest with double-figures, while it was his fifth game of the season with 20 or more points.

Senior Ray Askew (Hamden, Conn.) added 24 points for his sixth game in double figures on the year. Askew hit 8-of-13 from the floor and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe.

Rivier hit the first basket of the contest before the Falcons went on a 15-2 run led by two 3-pointers by Watson. Albertus held the Raiders to just one field goal in the first 8:32 of the contest before the Falcons took a 17-point lead with 7:32 left in the frame.

Askew led all scorers in the first half with 11 points as he hit 7-of-8 from the free throw line to help the cause. Watson tallied 10 first-half points as he shot 4-of-8 from the floor. Rivier shot 10-of-24 from the field in the first frame and went 0-of-4 behind the arc as 20 of the Raiders' 22 points came from inside the paint.

The Falcons shot just 35.5-percent from the floor in the first half as they went into the break with a 35-22 lead.

Five minutes into the second half, the Falcons went on an 8-0 run to take a 21-point lead at 54-33. Watson then took over the reins of the offense as he connected on five-consecutive three-point field goals to extend the Falcons' lead to as much as 33 with six minutes to go in the contest.

The Falcons' largest lead of the game came was 37 points as they hit that mark on a Jonathan Boykin layup with 3:33 left to go on the clock. On the afternoon, Albertus shot 48.5-percent, including an 11-of-25 clip from behind the arc. Rivier committed 23 turnovers, while the Falcons scored 27 points off those mistakes.

Albertus will return to action on Jan. 5 as the Falcons travel to Becker to take on the Hawks in non-conference action. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.