Stratford's Pittman Helps Lead Albertus Magnus to Victory

Stratford’s Ryan Pittman, a freshman point guard for the Albertus Magnus men’s basketball team, scored a career-high 16 points to help lead the Falcons to an 80-64 victory over Rivier Monday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at The Nest inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center in New Haven.

Pittman, a Bunnell graduate, hit three key 3-pointers down the stretch and also added three rebounds, three steals and one assist.

Pittman’s 16 points tied fellow freshman Shontaey Lovell for the team lead in the victory.

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Lovell and sophomore Jaqhawn Walters (of Hartford) combined for 29 points and 31 rebounds.

The Falcons erased an early eight-point deficit to improve to 11-3 overall and 7-2 in conference play, while the Raiders suffered their fifth straight loss to drop to 2-14 on the year and 2-7 in league contests.

The Raiders jumped out to an early 10-2 lead over the first three and a half minutes of action. During the spurt, Rivier hit two shots from 3-point range and forced three Albertus Magnus turnovers.

The Falcons responded with an 18-2 run to hold a 20-12 with 11:28 left in the opening half following a layup from Walters.

Rivier senior guard Cullen Donovan hit a 3-pointer to close out the half and cut the Albertus lead to just four at 35-31 heading into the break.

After a slow start, Lovell exploded in the second half as AMC stretched its lead to as many as 23 late in the quarter.

The 6-5 big man scored all 16 of his points over the final 20 minutes of play and knocked down 5-of-6 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line.

Pittman hit three 3-pointers down the stretch as the Falcons offense proved to be too much for the Raiders to handle, outscoring the Raiders 45-33.

Lovell and Pittman both finished with a team-high 16 for Albertus.

Lovell finished in double figures for the 14th straight contest and recorded his 10th double-double of the winter thanks to a 17-rebound performance.

Walters continued his strong play with 13 points on an efficient 5-of-8 shooting from the field to go along with 14 rebounds. Senior wing Marc Wilson was the other Falcon in double figures, pouring in 12 points to go along with a game-high four steals.