NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Lehman College men's basketball team dropped its season opener to Albertus Magnus, 86-73, in the opening round of the Mitchell College Tournament.

After a sluggish first half, the Lightning's defense buckled down and gave the team a chance to comeback, but Lehman could not break through. The Lightning offense showed some encouraging signs by shooting 48% from the field and 46% from three-point range.

The game opened up with both teams trading buckets, with Lehman leading early, 5-2, on a jumper by senior Kelvin Gil (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes). From there, Albertus went on an 8-0 run, and took control. The Falcons extended their lead to ten points, 48-38, at the half.

In the second half, Lehman cut the lead to just six, 54-48, at the 16:28 mark, on a layup by sophomore forward Jerrome Jones (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Vernon). Lehman continued to battle, cutting the lead to just four points, 65-61, with 9:50 to play, on a Jones three-pointer. A minute later, sophomore Olusegun Williams (Bronx, N.Y./DeWitt Clinton) made a layup to trim the lead to just three points, 67-64.

From there, Albertus used a 7-2 run to once again open up a sizable margin. Albertus would lead by as many as 15 down the stretch, before taking the 86-73 victory.

Jones tallied a double-double by scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Junior forward Brandon Stolz (Bronx, N.Y./Truman) led the Lightning with 26 points and four assists. Junior Kevan Proctor (Brooklyn, N.Y./Grand Street Campus) led Lehman with 11 rebounds.

The Lightning will play in the consolation game of the Mitchell College Tournament on Saturday, November 16, against Albany Pharmacy. Albany Pharmacy lost to Mitchell College on Friday night, 102-52.