NEWTON, Mass. – The Lasell University men's basketball team took down Rivier University in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match-up, 88-80, on Saturday afternoon in the Athletic Center.

The Lasers won their fifth straight game on Saturday to improve to 8-11 and 5-0 in conference play. The Raiders of Rivier drop to 3-15 on the season and 0-5 in conference.

Sophomore EJ Day (Norwalk, Conn.) recorded his fifth straight game with 20 or more points by scoring 30 in the Lasers win. Day shot 8-16 from the field and 14-16 from the charity stripe. Junior Jonathan Friberg (North Attleboro, Mass.) was credited an 18-point, 15 rebound double-double while shooting 80% from the field. Junior Kevin Vanderhorst (Lawrence, Mass.) also contributed with 19 points in the win.

Senior Issaiah Chappell (Sunapee, N.H.) led the Raiders with 35 points despite the loss.

The Lasers trailed 19-14 in the first half before Day and junior Kevin Nunez (Dorchester, Mass.) quickly answered on a 7 point spurt of their own for the Lasers to take a 21-20 lead. Both teams fought to maintain a lead until the break. The home team controlled a 41-36 lead at halftime.

The Lasers extended their lead 6 minutes into the second half after a pair of layups from Vanderhorst and Day to hold a 57-49 advantage. Day took over from there, he scored 10 of his 26 second half points in the last six minutes of the game to give the Lasers the victory over conference rival Rivier.

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