The Johnson & Wales men's basketball team saw its 12-game winning streak snapped with a 78-74 setback against Albertus Magnus in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest on the road on Wednesday evening.
Johnson & Wales was led by sophomore Robert Lewis (Baltimore, Md.) who tallied 18 points and seven rebounds while senior Esaie Touze (Providence, R.I.) recorded a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 14 boards. Sophomore Tom Garrick (Seekonk, Mass.) was also in double-figures with 10 points in the loss for the Wildcats.
Eian Davis paced Albertus Magnus with a game-high 22 points, six rebounds and three assists while Darius Watson notched 17 points and six boards in the victory. Victor Ljuljdjurajrecorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in the win for the Falcons.
Albretus Magnus raced out to the early 18-8 advantage after a jumper by James Jennings with 14:28 left in the first half. Johnson & Wales chipped away at the lead and knotted the game at 33-33 on a three-pointer by Garrick with just over six minutes remaining in the stanza. AMC took the 43-40 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
The host Falcons pushed their lead to 56-45 on a pair of free throws by Ljuljdjuraj with 13:17 left in regulation. Again, JWU continued to chip away at the lead and tied the game 70-70 after a layup by Lewis with 2:45 on the clock. The Wildcats held the 74-72 advantage after a free-throw by Touze with just :45 remaining. That would be all the scoring for JWU, however as Albertus Magnus closed out the game with a perfect 4-for-4 from the line to go with a layup by Davis to seal the 78-74 victory.
With the setback Johnson & Wales falls to 13-5 overall and 9-2 in league play while Albertus Magnus improves to 17-1 on the season and 11-0 in the GNAC. The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, February 1st when they host Anna Maria for a GNAC contest starting at 1:00 p.m.