Men's Basketball Powers Past Suffolk 93-65

Men's Basketball Powers Past Suffolk 93-65
BOSTON, Mass. (2/7/17) – Behind a season-high 37 points from Armin Omanovic (Wilkesboro, N.C.), the Lasell men's basketball team powered past Suffolk University, 93-65, on Tuesday evening inside Regan Gymnasium. Lasell jumps to 14-8 overall and 11-4 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play, while Suffolk loses their second in a row and dips to 6-16 this season and 5-10 in conference.

Omanovic shot 12-of-19 from the floor, making five baskets from downtown and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe, with six boards and six assists. Classmate John Powell (Ashland, Mass.) was next in line with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 7-of-8 made baskets from the line, while Yordan Villalon (Miami, Fla.) led the Lasers defensively with nine grabs off the glass.

Suffolk's Michael Hagopian put up 20-plus points for the third time in the past four games, scoring 25 on a 10-for-15 showing from the floor and 2-for-4 effort from downtown. He was perfect at the charity stripe, 3-for-3, and contributed five boards on the glass.

Lasell poured on the pressure in just the first three minutes to put Suffolk in a 12-5 hole before the Rams used their first timeout of the night. Suffolk hung with the Lasers for the next few minutes and a pair of freebies from Thomas Duffy kept the distance at nine, 30-21. From there, the visitors charged ahead once again, however, this time using a 10-2 stretch to make it a 17-point game, 40-23.  The deficit would remain as the teams headed into the locker rooms with the Rams down, 47-29.

In the opening of the second stanza, for every hoop Suffolk put in Lasell answered with a handful to maintain their hefty advantage. The Lasers went up by 20 at the 14:18 minute mark and took a 30-point lead, 67-47 just four minutes later.

Hagopian heated up late in the game, but the distance was too great to make up as Lasell took home the victory, 93-65.

Lasell shot over 50 percent (53.3) from the floor, just under 50 percent (45.4) from behind-the-arc and went 79.2 percent at the line, while Suffolk struggled from the field shooting 36.9 percent (24-65) and 31.6 percent (6-19) from the three-point line. The Lasers also held the advantage on the glass, 41-32, and scored nearly half of their points from inside the paint with 42. 

The Lasers host Emmanuel College at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday for their next contest, while Suffolk competes in its last regular season home game vs Johnson & Wales on the same day at 1:00 p.m.