LASELL TOPS MEN’S BASKETBALL, 89-74

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College men's basketball team dropped a 89-74 decision to Lasell College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon at the Jean Yawket Center. The Lasers improve to 10-7 and 7-4 in GNAC play while the loss drops EC to 4-15 and 2-10 in the GNAC.

The Saints jumped out to a 6-0 lead early in the action capped by a turn-around jumper from freshman forward Lyndon Harewood (Brooklyn, N.Y.). After four free throws from the Lasers to make it 6-4, EC went on another quick 6-0 spurt with back-to-back threes from freshman guard Kyle Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) and senior Josh Welles (Philadelphia, Pa.) to make it 12-4 with 16:42 to play, forcing Lasell to burn its first timeout.

A three by senior guard Brock Walters (Jacksonville, Fla.) gave Lasell its first lead of the day at 18-16 with around 9:00 minutes in the first half but EC would regain the lead at 23-20 following a trey in the corner from freshman swingman James Sullivan (Wethersfield, Conn.) with 7:50 remaining.

Lasell responded with three straight transition layups to pull ahead 26-23 but Sullivan stayed hot, connecting on a pair of runners to give Emmanuel a 27-26 lead.

A three from the top of the key by Walters gave the Lasers a 33-29 cushion but EC junior guard Jordan DeMario (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) answered with a triple of his own to pull Emmanuel to within one at 33-32 with 2:45 left in the half.

Walters extended the Lasell lead with another long distance trey in transition to make it 38-33 right at the 2:00 minute marker and a pair of Laser free throws would account for the 40-33 halftime score.

After converting on their first six attempts from the field, Emmanuel cooled down and ended the half going 14-32 (43.8%) from the field while Lasell went 12-26 (46.2%) and 13-15 (86.7%) from the charity stripe.

Sullivan and Walters each had 11 points at the break.

In the opening five minutes of the second half, the Lasers increased their lead to 11 with a 48-37 score behind multiple lay-ups by senior guard Brandon Ganesh (West Palm Beach, Fla.).

Strong offensive play from sophomore forward John Clay (Westport, Mass.) and senior guard Alex Myers (Long Beach, Calif.) brought the Saints to within four over the next three minutes. A Harwood spin move in the post made it a one possession game at 58-55 but Ganesh drained a pair of free throws with 8:55 left in the second stanza to lift Lasell's lead back to five at 60-55.

Sullivan drained a three with 7:00 on the clock to keep the deficit at five (67-62) but an old-fashion three-point play by Niba made it 70-62 with 6:31 remaining.

The Lasers continued to capitalize at the free throw line, connecting on several double-bonus situations to build their lead back to 11, ahead 76-66 with under five to play.

Smith connected on back to back layups to cut the Lasers lead to single digits at 79-71 but it would be the closest the Saints would get as Lasell held on for the 89-74 victory.

Lasell ended the game connecting on 38 free throws compared to Emmanuel's six.

Sullivan ended the afternoon with a team-high 20 points. Smith finished with 11 and Clay grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for EC.  

Niba paced Lasell with a game-high 21 points while Junior guard Angel Ortiz (East Lyme, Conn.) chipped in with 20 points.

Emmanuel plays next on Wednesday, February 5 in Northfield, Vt. against Norwich University at 7:00 PM while the Lasers host Amherst College on Tuesday, February 4 at 8:00 PM.