| Ray Askew put up his sixth
30-point game of the season. Albertus Magnus file photo by Ron Waite |
With 31 points in today's contest, senior Ray Askew (Hamden, Conn.) led the Albertus Magnus men's basketball team to an 87-74 victory over Mount Ida in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action. With his 31-point effort, Askew also becomes just the second men's basketball player to join the 2,000-point club at Albertus Magnus College.
Askew, who scored 19 of his 31 points in the second half of the league contest; added 11 rebounds on the afternoon for his fourth –straight double-double. Askew leads the Falcons on the year with 415 points and 178 rebounds. In today's win, Askew also registered 30 or more points for the sixth time this season.
Albertus improves to 17-1 on the year with the victory, while the Falcons remain unbeaten in league play at 12-0. Mount Ida (6-11, 3-7 GNAC) drops its second-consecutive game after falling to Saint Joseph's of Maine on Thursday by a score of 69-53. With today's win, the Falcons have now won three-straight against the Mustangs dating back to last season.
The Falcons opened today's contest with a 7-3 run thanks to five points from Askew in the first 1:30 of the game. The Mustangs answered back and tied the game at nine before going on to hold at least a four-point advantage through eight minutes of the first half. The Falcons battled back and tied the game at 22 with 4:55 left on the clock before putting together a 9-4 run to finish out the half and go into the break with a 31-26 lead.
The Falcons controlled the second half of play as they extended their lead to as much as 16 with 8:27 left on the clock.
At the 8:11 mark of the second half, Askew knocked downed two free throws to give the senior his 2,000th point.
Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.) added nine points in 33 minutes of work, while Jefferson Lora (Bronx, N.Y.) contributed with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Arshad Jackson (Hartford, Conn.) tallied 17 points for the Falcons for his ninth game of the year in double digits.
Askew now has 2,004 points and is just 230 points shy of the Albertus Magnus men's basketball points' record. Tim Russell '05 left Albertus with 2,234 points as he currently stands as the program's all-time leader. Until this season, Russell led the GNAC in that same category but Johnson & Wales' senior Lamonte Thomas surpassed Russell's record on Jan. 12, 2012.
Albertus will return home to host Suffolk on Monday, Jan. 30 for a GNAC match-up which is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. In their previous meeting, the Falcons took home an 89-77 victory in Boston as Watson led the way for the Falcons with 33 points, featured by a 24-point second-half performance by the sophomore.