NEW HAVEN, Conn. (1/17/17) – In the waning seconds of the contest, the Albertus Magnus Falcons edged the Lasell men's basketball team, 76-75, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action inside The Nest. The Falcons hand the Lasers their second loss in the conference at 7-2, shifting to 10-6 on the season, while Albertus rises to 8-1 in the GNAC and 12-3 overall.
In the hands of Grant Ellis (Newark, N.J.), the Falcons were awarded three shots from the line w, where the senior converted on all three to push the home team to victory.
Armin Omanovic (Wilkesboro, N.C.) shot his way to his sixth 30+ performance (31) on 11-of-25 shooting from the floor, and a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. 21 points came from a second-half push from the senior guard, while classmate John Powell led the charge for the Lasers in the first stanza with 20 points on 8-of-9 FG shooting and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
The Lasers took charge in the early stages of the game, and jumped to an 18-7 lead by the lone contributors of Omanovic and Powell. Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) scored the next five of 10 unanswered points for the hosts, and trailed Lasell by just two after a layup from Damian Grant with 4:58 to go in the first half. The Lasers, however, closed out the frame on a 9-6 run for a 35-30 lead heading into halftime.
Powell led all players on the glass with 10 rebounds in the first half, leading the Lasers to 29 boards to the Falcons' 19. Both teams shot under 20% from long range, while the Falcons forced Lasell into 10 turnovers.
The Falcons opened the final half with a 15-9 run to take a 45-44 lead over Lasell – only its second lead in the game - at the 15:57 mark. With the score tied at 49-49, Lasell regained control of the game extending its lead to nine, 60-51 on an 11-2 run led by Omanovic and a triple from Tim Blair (Newington, Conn.). Albertus continued to chip away at the Lasers' lead as a free throw from Walters brought the hosts to within one, 74-73, with 1:10 remaining.
With seven seconds on the clock, the visitors made 1-of-2 shots from the line for a two-point cushion, but Ellis secured the win with three-straight free throws with less than a second in regulation.
Both teams return to GNAC action on Saturday, January 21 at 3:00 p.m. The Lasers welcome St. Joseph's College of Maine, while the Falcons travel to Anna Maria College.