In a battle for first place in the GNAC, the Lasell College men's basketball team defeated Emerson College, 88-77, and won their eighth straight GNAC contest this season.  Jose Guitian (Miami, FL) and Corey Godfrey (Cambridge, Mass.) led the Lasers with 20 and 18 points apiece, which included a combined 28 second half points.   

Emerson came out to 4-0 with their two leading scorers Jeremy Shannon (Lowell, Mass.) and Bryan Rouse (East Greenwich, RI) each connecting on buckets. Sean Joynes (Philadelphia, Penn.) and Guitian answered to tie the game and Junior Sainval (Miami, FL) put Lasell ahead, at 17:24, nailing a wide open three.   

The Lasers advanced their lead to ten over the following minutes, making smart movements to find the open man and being patient not to rush their offense.  Each team saw their leading scorers fall into early foul trouble, which Lasell took full advantage off and attacked the hoop at every chance. Charles Horton (Worcester, Mass.) and Brad Caravoulias (Dracut, Mass.) handled the brunt of the offense for Lasell. Horton hit two from long-range and closed out with ten total points in the first half, and Caravoulias connected on five field goals and 11 total points.

The Lasers held a 23-11 advantage on the boards and a 46-40 point lead at the break.

Emerson struggled with Lasell's full court press in the second and the Lasers regained a nine point lead.  However, with 16 minutes to play, the Lions went on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 54-54.  The tie lasted all of thirty seconds as Godfrey and Guitian went on a six minute stretch scoring twelve points, topped off by a Caravoulias trifecta to put the game away for the Lasers. Emerson came back within 8 points of Lasell, but that is as close as they got to the Lasers, who walked away untouched in the conference.

Guitian complemented his 20 points with 14 rebounds, and Godfrey's notable performance was enhanced by eight additional grabs off the boards.  Caravoulias had 17 points to go along with 5 boards and 2 assists, and Horton finished the day with 12 points. Rouse finished with a game high 22 points and Shannon added fourteen.

Lasell (11-4) travels to Johnson & Wales on Tuesday, January 27th for another conference match against Johnson & Wales University, at 7:30 p.m.