NASHUA, N.H. (2/6/14) – The Lasell College men's basketball bounced back from a non-conference defeat on Tuesday evening to claim their third straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference victory, 91-90 on the road at Rivier University. Lasell climbed to 11-8 overall and 8-4 in conference play, while Rivier slid to 7-13 on the season and 4-9 in the GNAC.
Lasell's Brock Walters (Jacksonville, Fla.) came off the bench to score a career-high 20 points while tying a career-high with six three pointers in the contest. The senior guard converted 7-11 from the floor including 6-10 from behind the arc and grabbing four rebounds. Brandon Ganesh (West Palm Beach, Fla.) paced the Lasers with 26 points including converting 11-12 from the free throw line while snaring six boards and handing out five assists. Clyde Niba (Atlanta, Ga.) added 17 points and 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season for the Lasers.
Tom Poitras (Bow, N.H.) scored a game-high 37 points to lead Rivier, making 14-24 attempts from the field and 8-9 from the charity stripe. Jake Nelson (Nashua, N.H.) chipped in with 18 points and a team-high six rebounds, Nick Walch (Dedham, Mass.) finished with 13 points and a team-high six assists and Kywane Thomas (Hartford, Conn.) added 10 points for the Raiders.
The opening half was an evenly played affair, and neither team was able to create much of a cushion with each side holding a lead no bigger than four points. Poitras scored 20 of his points in the opening half for the hosts, while Lasell used a torrid stretch of shooting, knocking down nine of 17 attempts from behind the arc to remain with two at 48-46 at the break.
Trailing 58-55 with 15:17 on the clock in the second half the Lasers went on a 9-0 run that started with consecutive layups by Niba and was capped by a triple from Walters to take a 64-58 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining. Lasell pushed their lead to nine on a trifecta by Walters at the 9:45 mark and took their first double digit lead of the game at 76-66 on a Niba three point play with just over eight minutes remaining. Lasell lead by 10, 88-78 after a Jeremy Daniel (Bridgeport, Conn.) layup with 3:48 remaining but the Raiders didn't give in. They went on a 10-3 run over two and a half minutes, cutting the Lasers lead to 91-88 on a Poitras layup with 45 seconds remaining. Lasell turned the ball over with seven seconds remaining leading to a Rivier timeout with five seconds on the clock.
Poitras saw his three point attempt go off the mark, and Rivier drew within one, 91-90 on a put-back as time expired, allowing the Lasers to take home the victory. The contest featured 12 ties and 29 lead changes, and near perfect free throw shooting from both teams as Rivier converted 18-23 attempts from the line and Lasell cashed in 19-23 from the stripe.
Rivier will visit St. Joseph's College of Maine on Saturday February 8th at 3:00 p.m. while Lasell will return home to take on Suffolk University at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday the 8th as well.