Newton, Mass. – The Lasell University men's basketball team made its season debut Friday night but fell short in a tight affair with the Husson University Eagles, 86-78, at the Lasell Athletic Center.
Senior EJ Day (Norwalk, Conn.) led the Lasers in scoring by dropping 25 points and collecting five steals. Graduate student Kevin Vanderhorst (Lawrence, Mass.) grabbed a double-double scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Senior Kevin Nunez (Dorchester, Mass.) also added 16 points.
Graduate student Jonathan Friberg (North Attleboro, Mass.) added 10 points as four of the five starters contributed for 67 of the Lasers 78 points.
The Eagles were strong from the outside making 13 of their 27 attempts from three-point range. Lasell struggled from behind the arc only making seven of their 25 attempts. Husson was strong on the boards and held a 12-rebound advantage over the Lasers.
The Eagles had balanced scoring across their starting five with four of the five reaching double digits. Senior Justice Kendall (Baltimore, Md.) had 17 points and fellow classmate DJ Bussey (Peoria, Ariz.) had 16 points. Senior Brett Cunningham (Bethel Acres, Okla.) and graduate student Justin Thompson (East Millinocket, Maine). Each scored 16 points.
The game was tight for the first five minutes of the game with only one point separating the two teams. The eagles then went on a 11-0 run the next two minutes to open the game up. The deficit stayed around 11 for most of the first half with Lasell clawing back to make it a 43-34 lead for the Eagles at half.
Husson started out the second half strong increasing their lead from nine to 19 in the first nine minutes of the game. Lasell slowly clawed their way back getting the Eagle lead under ten with 4:41 left in the game. The Lasers had the lead down as low four points following a steal and layup by Day but better free throw shooting by the Eagles in the final 30 seconds secured the win for Husson.
The Lasers will be back in action when they travel to Babson College for a rematch of their only two games from the 2020-21 season. The game is Wednesday, November 10, and tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.