Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.) led all scorers with 28 points as the Albertus Magnus men's basketball team downed Becker College 74-65 in non-conference action on Thursday afternoon.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 8-1 on the year, while Becker falls to 6-4.
For Watson, it was his fourth-straight game with 20 or more points, while it was his second-best outing this season after scoring a career-high 35 points against Rivier College on Dec. 20, 2011. Watson added eight rebounds on the afternoon and shot 8-of-13 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.
To open the game, Albertus went on a 7-0 run as Watson scored all seven points for the Falcons during that span. The Falcons extended that run to 11-4 less than six minutes into the contest and never allowed Becker to hold a lead throughout the entire match-up.
At the break, the Falcons held a 16-point advantage led by 18 points from Watson as he shot 6-of-10 from the floor, including a 3-for-5 showing from behind the arc. In the opening frame, Albertus shot 46.4-percent from the floor and held the Hawks to a 9-of-33 showing (27.3-percent). The Falcons' 16-point advantage at the half marked their largest lead of the contest.
During the second half of play, Becker outscored the Falcons 44-37 but could not overcome the deficit as the Falcons earned their third-straight victory. On the afternoon, Albertus out-rebounded the Hawks 40-28 and finished the game shooting 45.8-percent from the field. The Falcons also hit 24 of their 33 free throw attempts.
Senior Ray Askew (Hamden, Conn.) added 22 points for the Falcons as he had a big second half after scoring just six points in the first 20 minutes of play. Askew added 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and his first since the Falcons' non-conference loss to Medgar Evers on Dec. 6, 2011. The senior leads the team with 208 points this season, while averaging 23.1 points per game.
Jefferson Lora (Bronx, N.Y.) contributed with 10 points and four rebounds as he posted double figures in scoring for the first time this season.
Rajai Leggett played all 40 minutes for the Hawks as he led his team with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Terrence Favors tallied 18 points for Becker as he shot 7-of-15 from the floor.
Albertus will return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 7 as the Falcons travel to Boston, Mass. to take on the Suffolk Rams in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action. The league match-up is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.