MBB Falls to Albertus Magnus in Tip-Off Tourney Finals

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team won the 2013 Mitchell College Tip-Off Tourney on Saturday afternoon, topping the host Mariners by a 99-89 final in the championship game.

Earlier in the day, Lehman College defeated the Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences by a 68-53 final in the consolation game.

Albertus Magnus' Darius Watson was named the tournament's most outstanding player and joined teammate Eian Davis on the all-tournament team. Mitchell's Joshua Ford, Lehman's Brandon Stolz and Albany's John Tremblay rounded out the all-tournament team selections.

Championship Game – Albertus Magnus College 99, Mitchell College 89

Davis led all scorers with 27 points and handed out a game-high 11 assists to fuel the Albertus Magnus offense. Watson chipped in with 21 points while Victor Ljuljdjuraj added 18 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks as the Falcons (2-0 overall) brought home the tournament championship.

Ford led six Mariners (1-1 overall) in double figures with 21 points and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds with five assists. Alex Del Rio shot 5-for-8 from three-point range and finished with 16 points while Michael Pellegrini recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

The Falcons came out and attacked the basket early behind the play of Davis, who netted 17 of his 27 points in the opening stanza. Albertus Magnus scored the first six points of the game, but the Mariners rallied back behind a 9-2 run to grab their first lead following a Pellegrini lay-up with 15:52 remaining.

Albertus Magnus pulled back in front and led for the majority of the half, though Mitchell kept it close throughout. The Falcons scored eight of the final 11 points of the stanza, however, to take their largest lead of the day into the locker room at the break, 40-33.

The Falcons never let the lead dip below three in the second half and led by double digits for the final 9:39 of the contest. Ljuljdjuraj scored 14 of his 18 points over the final 20 minutes.

Albertus Magnus shot 47 percent for the game and went 27-for-30 from the free throw line, led by a 10-for-11 effort by Davis. Mitchell shot 36 percent from the floor but went 13-for-27 from beyond the arc.

Devonta Mosley finished with 14 points and six boards while Frank Martin and Alex Pires added 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the Mariners. Kyle Wiggins also finished in double figures for the Falcons with 12 points.

Consolation Game – Lehman College 68, Albany College 53

Stanley Stephens scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Lightning (1-1 overall) to victory in the consolation game. Kelvin Gil pitched in with 17 points while both Brandon Stolz and Kevan Proctor added double-doubles. Stolz finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds while Proctor contributed 10 points and a game-high 13 boards.

Tremblay led the Panthers (1-2 overall) with 20 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Casey Redfern also finished in double digits with 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Lehman never trailed in the contest after scoring the game's first five points and took its largest lead at 23-6 on a lay-up by Zach Basso with 13:35 remaining. However, Albany failed to give in and later trimmed the deficit back to single digits following a three-pointer by Redfern with 3:34 left in the stanza.

Gil scored 11 points in the first half as the Lightning led 38-27 at the break. Gil then made the first bucket of the second half to increase the margin to 13, but the Panthers fought back with seven straight points to cut the deficit to six. It would be as close as they would get, however, as Stephens netted 14 of his 23 points in the second half to keep Lehman in front.

The Lightning went up by double digits on a lay-up by Proctor with 6:38 to go and never let the lead slip back to single digits. Lehman shot 40 percent from the floor in the game and outscored Albany 19-3 at the free throw line.