NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Behind 41 points from Ta'zhon Daniels (New Haven, Conn.) and a double-double from Lennox Serrano (Waterbury, Conn.), the Albertus Magnus College men's basketball game took down Lasell University, 98-91 in overtime on Saturday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) thriller.

Daniels scored 28 of his points in the second half and overtime and went 18-for-21 from the free throw line, including two free throws with 1.5 seconds left to send the game into overtime. He also had four rebounds and four assists.

Serrano finished with 10 points - including two big time baskets in overtime - to go with 11 rebounds enroute to his first double-double of the season.

Isaiah Earl (Hamden, Conn.) scored 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting with eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks. Ray Ford, Jr. (Jersey City, N.J.) also scored 10 points on the day.

Albertus trailed by as much as 10 points and never held the lead in the second half on its way to the comeback win.

THE BASICS

FINAL: Albertus 98 | Lasell 91

RECORDS: Albertus (16-7, 7-2 GNAC) | Lasell (11-12, 6-3 GNAC)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Falcons jumped out to a 7-0 lead early on behind five points from Earl, including a three-pointer. Lasell rallied to cut the Albertus lead to 9-8 but a three-point play by Tahijj Hunter (Mount Laurel, N.J.) put the Falcons ahead 12-8 at the 12:21 mark.
• Lasell took a 19-16 lead behind five points from Esmer Madesko and four from Che Hanks. Serrano then answered with a three to tie the game with 9:26 left in the half.
• The Lasers held no more than a two-possessoin lead the rest of the half and Daniels scored 12 of the final 18 points in the half for the Falcons. Serrano made a layup with six seocnds left as Albertus trailed 38-37 at halftime.
• With the Falcons down 49-45 four minutes into the second half, Earl scored back-to-back baskets, including an offensive rebound and putback to tie the game. 
• Lasell hit four straight three pointers, including two from Hanks, to take its biggest lead of the game at 61-51 lead. Ford, Jr. hit a three cut the lead back to seven points before another three from Hanks made it a ten-point lead once again for the Lasers.
• The Falcons went on an 11-4 run, including a three-point play by Earl and a three from Daniels to cut their deficit to 68-65 with 10 minutes remaining.
• After the Lasers went back ahead 74-66 on a jumper from Madesko, a steal and layup from Daniels, followed by two more free throws from him made it a 74-70 game. Just over two minutes later, Daniels grabbed a rebound off his own missed three and made another layup making it a 76-73 game with 3:53 left.
• Earl and Daniels each got the Falcons to within one point in the final minutes with baskets, and the Falcons eventually tied the game with two free throws by Daniels wo make it 82-82 with 34 seconds left.
• After a Lasell time out, a layup from Madesko with seven seconds left put the Lasers back up by two. However, Daniels drove to the lane and drew a foul with 1.5 seconds left, making two clutch free throws to send the game into overtime.
• In overtime, with the game tied at 89-89 Serrano grabbed a rebound in traffic off of his own miss and gave the Falcons its first lead in overtime to make it a 91-89 game. After forcing a stop on the defensive end, the Falcons took a four-point lead as Serrano crashed the boards again and delivering another basket in the paint to put Albertus ahead 93-89.
• After a turnover by Jonathan Box of Lasell, Daniels hit another jumper to put the Falcons up by six points. DJ Victory (New York, N.Y.) then hit three free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

TEAM STATS

Albertus

40.0 FG% | 25.0 3PT% | 79.2 FT%

Lasell

47.8 FG% | 26.1 3PT% | 73.1 FT%

TOP PERFORMERS

Albertus

Ta'zhon Daniels 41 PTS | 18-21 FT | 4 REBS | 4 ASTS

Isaiah Earl 18 PTS | 7-12 FG | 8 REBS | 4 ASTS | 3 BLKS

Lennox Serrano 10 PTS | 4-8 REBS | 11 REBS | 3 STLS

Ray Ford, Jr. 10 PTS | 3 REBS | 3 ASTS

Lasell

Che Hanks 29 PTS | 4-9 3PT 

Esmer Madesko 21 PTS | 7-9 FG | 6 REBS | 8 ASTS | 5 STLS

Quinton Partee, Jr. 20 PTS | 8-13 FG | 5 REBS

NOTEWORTHY

• The double-double for Serrano was the third of his career.
• Albertus is now 30-8 all-time against Lasell.
• Daniels has six games of 30 or more points this season and it was his second 40+ point game of the season.
• Victory tied his season-high with nine points.

UP NEXT

The Falcons hosts their final home game of the season as they take on Dean College at 7:30 on Tuesday, February 17th. It will also be senior night for the Falcons.