NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Junior Treace Macklin (Brockton, Mass.) scored a career-high 26 points on Saturday afternoon as Mount Ida battled the #19 team in the country Albertus Magnus in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball.
The Falcons, led by Victor Ljuljdjuraj (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), who scored 26 points of his own and grabbed 11 rebounds, raced to an 88-52 win, improving their conference record to 13-1.
Macklin shot 10-15 from the field, including making four of seven attempts from behind the three-point line.
Not to be outdone, Ljuljdjuraj shot 11-of-16 from the floor, while he added three steals, five assists and four blocked shots. His work helped the hosts shoot 53.8% from the floor and outrebound their opponents 44-28.
Mount Ida opened the contest with a 7-3 run before Albertus bounced back to take an 8-7 lead on a Ljuljdjuraj slam dunk. After the Mustangs took the lead back at 11-8 with 14:34 on the clock, Albertus tied the game at 11 on a pair of Marcus Walker (Newark, N.J.) free throws.
After the score was tied at 13, the Falcons put together a 14-0 run and never looked back. They extended their lead to as much as 20 in the first half with 2:42 left to go in the frame.
Albertus led 41-26 at the halftime break on a 46.9% showing from the field. The Mustangs shot just 29.4% from the floor in the opening frame.
Nathan Bueno (Methuen, Mass.) added eight points, while Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) and Kenny Jean (Dorchester, Mass.) scored four points apiece for the Green and White, and Jean led the Mustangs with eight rebounds.
Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.), Kyle Wiggins (Milford, Conn.), and Lemar Larsen (Waterbury, Conn.) were the other Falcons in double figures with 13, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Watson shot 5-of-8 from the field and 2-of-4 from behind the arc as he is now 46 points away from his 2,000th career point as a Falcon.
Eian Davis (Brooklyn, Conn.) added eight points, four rebounds and five assists in the victory. Wiggins, who came off the bench for the Falcons, shot 4-of-8 from the field, including a 3-of-6 showing from downtown.
The Falcons (19-2) earned their 36th-straight win at home and currently hold the longest home-winning streak in the NCAA. The Mustangs fall to 4-16 overall and 2-11 in league action.
Mount Ida will be at Suffolk on Tuesday evening at 7:30 pm for another GNAC contest before returning home on Thursday to face Saint Joseph's (ME) in a rescheduled match from February 5th's snowstorm.
Albertus will host Lasell College on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m.