Franklin, MA-- Lasell College got a game-high 28 points from Stefan Masciarelli (Northbridge, Mass.) and the visiting Lasers rode his hot shooting hand to an 87-82 win over Dean College in non-conference men's basketball action on Tuesday evening.
The Lasers shot 50 percent from the field, made half of their 22 three-point attempts and were stellar at the line, going 18-for-22 (81 percent) as they won for the second time in their last three games after opening the season with four straight losses. With the win, the Lasers improve to 2-5 on the season.
After allowing the Lasers to shoot 57 percent from the field in the first half, Dean only trailed 40-39 at the half due in large part to the hot shooting of Randolf Thurman (Swampscott, Mass.), who scored 13 first half points on 5-for-5 shooting.
Things stayed close in the first portion of the second half and when Thurman dropped in another three-pointer and Marquez Walls (Saint Petersburg, Fla.) finished on the fast break, the Bulldogs were in front 52-50 for the first time since late in the first half.
The lead proved to be short-lived, however as Lasell jumped back in front by using a 14-2 run that started with a Tim Blair (Newington, Conn.) three-pointer and was capped by a Derek McMahon (Hatfield, Mass.) layup.
The Bulldogs closed the gap to one on a few occasions, including at 68-67 on a Jordan Booker (Waterbury, Conn.) three-pointer and then again at 72-71 on an Armani Baker (Pawtucket, R.I.) conventional three-point play.
Lasell was able to push their lead back to nine at 84-75 with less than two minutes to go, but the Bulldogs rallied by scoring seven points in a little more than a minute on two Josh Croskey (Union, N.J.) layups and another Booker triple. The visitors were up only by two, 84-82 with less than 20 seconds left, as Masciarelli sealed the win for the Lasers with two clutch free throws with ten seconds remaining.
To help secure the win, Blair added 20 of his own, McMahon finished with 15 points and six assists and Dannie Moore (Apopka, Fla.) recorded a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Lasell returns to action on Thursday when they host Wheaton at 7:00 p.m. in Newton.
Recap courtesy of Dean Sports Information