KEENE, N.H.- The Lasell college men's basketball team dropped an out of conference contest to the Owls of Keene State on Tuesday night at Spaulding Gymnasium. The Lasers move to 0-4 on the year and the Owls 3-2.
The Lasers led early in the first half, but Keene State used a 16-1 burst to take control within the first seven minutes of the contest. Ty Nichols made a layup and a traditional three-point play in successive possessions for an 11-4 home team advantage. Lasell managed a free throw to stop KSC's 9-0 spurt, but the Owls scored the next seven points thereafter. From there, though, the visitors fought to trim the deficit. The Lasers scored 11 of the next 15 points, capped by a Liam Jacobs (Plainfield, Conn.) layup, to trail 22-16 with 7:45 to go in the half. Keene State responded over the next two minutes, scoring eight consecutive points for their largest lead at 30-16. Lasell again came back though, going on a 14-4 run with eight points from Tim Blair (Newington, Conn.) to trail just 34-30 with 25 seconds left in the half. Keene State was fouled in the final seconds and canned both free throws and then sank a layup at the buzzer for a 38-30 half-time lead.
The second half was more of the same, with both teams exchanging runs, but KSC maintained the lead throughout. A bucket inside from Dannie Moore (Orlando, Fla.) trimmed Lasell's deficit to one possession (40-37), but the Owls pumped the lead back to nine (46-37) with 14:42 to go. The Lasers again got to within one possession at 50-47 halfway through the second stanza after Blair's jumper, but the Owls pulled away for good thereafter. A Nichols' tip-in after a missed shot made it 56-47 with 8:41 left and after a dunk and a layup on successive possessions, the Owls led 62-51 at the 5:33 mark. Two free throws with 3:10 to go gave the Owls a 68-53 lead, their largest of the game, and KSC cruised from there.
Along with Blair's 20 points, Moore finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds and Stefan Masciarelli (Northbridge, Mass.) chipped in 10 points.
Next up, the men will travel to Worcester State on Thursday for another non-conference match up at 7:00 p.m.