Newton, MA- Lasell College defeated the Saints of Emmanuel College on Tuesday evening, 76-64, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's basketball match up. Senior Javon Williams(Mattapan, MA) finished with 21 points on 9-15 shooting, adding nine rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots for the Lasers. Junior Sean Bertanza(Seymour, CT) scored a game high 28 points for Lasell, and senior point guard Nate DiSessa(Westfield, MA) knocked down three key three pointers en-route to 11 points and five assists on senior night. Theo Robinson(Springfield, MA) finished with a double-double to lead Emmanuel with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Xavier Everson(Rochester, NY) added 16 points in the loss.
The Lasers took a 37-32 lead over the Saints in the first half, shooting 50.0% from the field and 42.9% from the three point line, while forcing 14 turnovers. Emmanuel kept the game close by outrebounding Lasell 24-11 in the opening half, using 9 offensive rebounds to score 17 second chance points.
Javon Williams (Mattapan, MA) started the second half with a layup for the Lasers, who opened the half on a 6-0 run to open up a 43-32 lead. Trailing 57-44 with 13 minutes remaining, Emmanuel's Theo Robinson scored three unanswered baskets, cutting the Lasell lead to 57-50 with just under 11 minutes remaining.
The Lasers built their lead back to 12 with 7:37 left, only to see the Saints answer with a 10-2 run, cutting the lead to 66-62 with 4:12 remaining in the contest. Lasell responded with six unanswered points pushing their lead back to 72-62 with 1:56 remaining, and held off Emmanuel down the stretch to pick up the 76-64 victory.
Lasell improves to 11-13 overall and 10-7 in GNAC play with the win, while Emmanuel fell to 11-13 overall and 10-7 in conference action. Lasell will travel to Norwich on Saturday, February 18th at 3pm for their last regular season match up, while Emmanuel will close out their regular season on February 18th when they host Mount Ida at 1pm.
Game Notes: The evening began with a ceremony honoring Lasell's two seniors, Javon Williams and Nate DiSessa, who are playing their final season for the Lasers.
