Falcons, Mariners Advance to Title Game of Mitchell Tip-Off Tourney

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College and Mitchell College men's basketball teams each picked up wins on the opening day of play at the 2013 Mitchell College Tip-Off Tourney on Friday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Albertus Magnus opened the tournament with an 86-73 victory over Lehman College, and Mitchell followed with a 102-52 victory over the Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. The Falcons and Mariners will meet in Saturday's championship game at 3 p.m. while Lehman and Albany will face off in the consolation game at 1 p.m.

Game 1 – Albertus Magnus College 86, Lehman College 73

Darius Watson led five Falcons (1-0 overall) in double figures with a game-high 31 points and went 5-for-10 from beyond the arc. Victor Ljuljdjuraj recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and also added three blocks, and Eian Davis finished with 10 points and a game-high nine assists.

Brandon Stolz paced the Lightning (0-1 overall) with 26 points on 11-for-18 shooting from the field. Jerrome Jones also added 24 points and 10 boards while Kevan Proctor chipped in with a team-high 11 rebounds.

Albertus Magnus led 48-38 at the half but saw its lead shrink down to three following a bucket by Lehman's Olusegun Williams with 9:13 to play in the contest. The Falcons responded by scoring 11 of the next 15 points to push the margin back to double digits and never looked back.

Game 2 – Mitchell College 102, Albany College 52

Senior Joshua Ford led the Mariners (1-0 overall) with 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in only 26 minutes of action. Freshman Marcus Vereen netted 14 points in his collegiate debut and knocked down his first four three-point field goal attempts of the night, and sophomore Devonta Mosley added 12 points.

Casey Redfern led all scorers with 21 points on 7-for-18 shooting to pace the Panthers (1-1 overall). John Tremblay joined Redfern in double digits with 11 points.

Mitchell scored the first 16 points of the contest and held Albany scoreless until the 11:18 mark when Joe Britt buried a jumper. The Mariners extended the lead to 28-2 before the Panther scored again, and the lead was 45-16 at the break.

All 15 Mitchell players logged time in the second half. Redfern scored 16 of his 21 points in the second stanza.