Newton, MA - The Lasell men's basketball team defeated cross town rival Mount Ida, 85-82, in both teams' GNAC conference opener saturday afternoon at the Mount Ida College Athletic Center. Junior Captain Sean Bertanza (Seymour, CT) had a season and game high 34 points including the game winning three at the buzzer to seal Lasell's second victory of the season.

Senior captain Javon Williams (Mattapan, MA) had his best overall game of the season with 26 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals. Bertanza scored his 34 points on 11-16 shooting from the field, 6-8 from three and 6-7 from the free throw line. Freshman guard Jeremy Daniel (Bridgeport, CT) got his first start of the season and delivered with seven points and five assists in 24 minutes.

Two free throws by Sonny Mello (Fall River, MA) gave Lasell a 78-76 lead with 3:08 left to go in the game. Daniel stole a pass from Ida forward Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA) and passed it ahead to Bertanza who drained a midrange jump shot to push the lead to 80-76 just four seconds later. The score remained that way until Jaiquan Wynter (Hartford, CT) hit one of two free throws for Ida after he was fouled on a layup attempt by Williams with 2:13 left. A turnover by Mello gave Ida the ball back which once again led to a Lasell foul, this time committed by Nate DiSessa (Westfield, MA). Ida guard Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT) made one of two free throws making the score 80-78 with 1:51 left.

Bertanza missed a three point shot attempt at the 1:39 mark, but Ida could not score on their possession as Benjamin missed a layup that would have tied the game. Wynter fouled Williams with 38 seconds and challenged Lasell to make their free throws. Williams buried both free throws giving Lasell a 82-78 lead. Keith Jones hit a jump shot with 26 seconds to bring Ida within two. A costly turnover by Mello gave Ida the ball with 23 seconds and a chance to tie or win the game. Coming out of a timeout, Ida ran a play that saw Benjamin nail a jump shot with seven seconds left to tie the game at 82. Bertanza then finished off the game by draining his sixth three pointer of the game at the buzzer.

Williams and Bertanza both came off the bench but ended up combining for 60 of the team's 85 points. Bertanza accounted for all of the team's made three point field goals besides one. Ida got to the free throw line almost twice as much as Lasell but only shot 58.8 percent (20-34) from the charity stripe while Lasell shot 77.8 percent (14-18).

Keith Jones (Boston, MA) led Ida with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists while Hillery posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 boards.

The win brings Lasell's record to 2-5 (1-0 GNAC). They will travel to St. Joseph's (ME) on Dec. 8 as they continue on with conference play.

--story by Victor Olowojoba