Men's Basketball Drops GNAC Battle with Falcons
Posted: Jan 21, 2017

Men's Basketball Drops GNAC Battle with Falcons

Game Leaders
Albertus Magnus
Pts: Jaqhawn Walters - 26
Reb: Jaqhawn Walters - 10
Ast: Ryan Pittman - 7
Anna Maria
Pts: 2 Players (#21, #34) - 22
Reb: Mike Rapoza - 13
Ast: 2 Players (#20, #35) - 4
Team Stats
Full stats

PAXTON, Mass. – The Anna Maria College men's basketball team dropped to the visiting Falcons of Albertus Magnus College 85-82 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) battle on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the AMCATS to 3-14 overall and 3-7 in conference play. The Falcons rise to 13-3 and 9-1 in the GNAC.

The win for Albertus Magnus marked head coach Mitch Oliver's 200th career victory.
 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Freshman Mike Rapoza (Charlton, Mass.) posted yet another double-double, leading the AMCATS with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Liam Pickett (Oxford, Mass.) came off the bench to help boost the AMCATS with 22 points and a game high five steals. Senior guard, David Jean-Louis (Miramar, Fla.) added 15 points and two steals.

Falcon's Jaqhawn Walters led all scorers with a game high 26 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Devin Coleman added 22 points and Grant Ellis rounded out double-digit scoring for Albertus Magnus with 13 points.

Anna Maria held an 18-24 edge over Albertus in turnovers, an 18-17 edge in points off turnovers and a 40-36 edge in points in the paint.

The Falcons dominated on the board collecting 40 total rebounds as well as recorded 15 second chance points.

Albertus Magnus finished the afternoon shooting above 50 percent in field goal percentage and free-throw percentage with 60.9 percent. The AMCATS shot 48.4 percent from the field and 69 percent from the free-throw line.

 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Over the first four minutes of play, Albertus Magnus trailed the hosts until a three from Jahmerikah Green-Younger (Norwalk, Conn.) gave the Falcons their first lead of the game, 9-8. Following the three from Green-Younger, Albertus Magnus went on an 11-2 run to extend its lead to double-digits, 20-10, with 11:09 left in the first. A jumper from David Jean-Louis brought the hosts to within two, 22-20, but the Falcons would hold a 39-32 lead at the half.

Anna Maria continued to chip away at the Falcons' double-digit lead as a layup from Liam Pickett brought the score to within two, 54-52, at the 13:48 mark.  Over the next couple of minutes, Anna Maria continued to threaten the Falcons' lead, before a layup from Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) sparked a 10-2 run pushing the lead back-up to double-digits, 71-60.

However with 1:26 remaining in regulation, Anna Maria found themselves ahead by one, 82-81, following a three from Jean Louis, but Albertus would secure the 85-82 road victory.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The AMCATS host Emmanuel College on Wednesday, Jan. 25 for a 6:00 p.m. GNAC contest. The Falcons return to action on the same day against Rivier.