Men's Basketball                                                                                 Anna Maria - 74

February 2, 2012                                                                                 Albertus Magnus - 83

PAXTON, Mass. – The AMCATS had four players in double digits but couldn't hold off a late run by Albertus Magnus and suffered a 83-74 defeat to the Falcons at The Fuller Activities Center on Thursday night. With the win the Falcons remain undefeated in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action improving to 19-1 (14-0 GNAC), the AMCATS fall below the .500 mark in conference play dropping to 8-12 (6-7 GNAC).

Anna Maria was led by junior Anthony Click's (Springfield, Mass.) team-high 21 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Guard High Daye (Worcester, Mass.) chipped in 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Javier Bristol (Haverhill, Mass.) was 6-of-9 from the floor for 17 points. Senior Brad Peterson (North Kingstown, RI) rounded out the players in double figures with 11 points and a game-high 9 rebounds.

Albertus' top scorer was sophomore Darius Watson with 22 points and Ray Askew added another 20 points for the Falcons.

The AMCATS jumped out to an early 7-2 lead receiving five quick points by Click and an opening basket by Peterson. The Falcons battled back and after a layup by Darius Watson closed the gap to 7-6 with 16:32 remaining.

Anna Maria then went on a 12-4 run culminating with a 3 pointer by Corey Pryor at 10:36 to open up their largest lead of the game at 19-10. Once again Albertus Magus responded with a flurry of baskets and the AMCAT lead had dwindled to 3 points, 21-18.

With 5:53 remaining in the half Anthony Click hit a layup with the clock-shot at :01 to build the lead back to 9 at 30-21. Albertus finished the half with a layup by Watson to make it a 4 point game 37-33 at half.  Anna Maria shot a blistering 63% in the half.

Albertus opened the second half with a 5-1 run to tie the game at 38-38, and then Anna Maria went on a 6-0 sprint to take a 44-38 lead, 3 minutes in. Senior Ray Askew scored four straight free throws to tie the game again at 49-49. Anna Maria rebounded with four free throws, two by Brad Peterson and two by Quantez Franklin to hold a 57-51 edge halfway through the stanza.

Then the Falcons finally found their stroke, exploded on a 24-7 run over the next six minutes to take a commanding 75-64 advantage. It was too big a deficit for the AMCATS to handle and they couldn't counter the Falcons' run.

The AMCATS return to action on Saturday when they host Saint Joseph's College (ME) starting at 3:00pm.

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Photo courtesy of Lynette Colome