Lasell Shoots Lights Out; Downs Men's Hoops in GNAC Quarterfinals, 98-77

THE BASICS 
Score:
#3 Emmanuel College, 77; #6 Lasell University, 98

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (19-7, 7-4 GNAC)
Lasell University Lasers (10-16, 6-5 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court

Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2020

THE LEAD – The Lasell University men's basketball team connected on 12 first-half three pointers and finished the night with a season-high 14 triples to shoot past host Emmanuel Collee, 98-77, in the Quarterfinal round of the 2020 Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament Tuesday evening in Boston, Mass.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Lasers never trailed, getting out to a quick start with early triples by junior guard Keith Poitier (Hartford, Conn.), junior Kevin Nunez (Dorchester, Mass.) and sophomore EJ Day (Norwalk, Conn.) to take an 11-2 lead just 3:10 into the action.
• Emmanuel made up some ground and a pair of free throws by first year forward Ted Weber (Orange, Conn.) with 11:19 left in the stanza cut the deficit to two at 20-18.
• Lasell continued to shoot lights out from behind the arc as junior forward Kevin Vanderhorst (Lawrence, Mass.) capped a 14-4 run to help LU build a 34-22 advantage with 8:36 to play in the half.
• The Saints didn't fold and responded with a 5-0 flurry to get to within 34-27 but the visitors answered with an 8-0 run of their own to bump the lead to 42-27 following a layup by junior forward Jonathan Friberg (North Attleboro, Mass.) with 4:38 to left in the first.
• The Lasers closed out the final four minutes of the half by outscoring the hosts by a 14-7 margin to take a comfortable 56-34 lead into halftime.
• Lasell connected on 12 of 19 threes in the stanza (63.2%) as Nunez led all players with 17 points at the break.
•  Emmanuel did all they could to keep the game close in the second half, cutting the deficit to 14 points after Dan Flaherty (Warwick, R.I.) made a jumper to make it 76-62 with 7:51 to play but it was the closest the Saints would get as the Lasers effectively managed the clock down the stretch to cruise to a 98-77 road victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Day ended the night with a game-high 29 points including 17 in the second half while Nunex finished with 21 points and six rebounds.
• EC junior forward Zachary Crisafulli (East Hampton, Mass.) collected a team-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor while grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.
• Senior guard Emmett Riddick (Middletown, Mass.) capped his collegiate career with a 19 point, six rebound effort while Flaherty ended his career with a 10 point showing. Riddick will graduate as the third leading scoring in program history with 1,492 career points.
• Emmanuel junior forward Marcus Fox chipped in 12 points.
• Vanderhorst, Friberg and first year guard Demerrick Warren (Deerfield, Fla.) rounded out the Lasell ballers in double-figures scoring 14, 12 and 11, respectively.
• Lasell owned a 38-33 rebounding advantage in the action and finished the game shooting 51.4% from the field.

UP NEXT

• The Saints cap the 2019-20 campaign with a 19-7 overall record marking the second most wins in program history.
• #6 Lasell returns to action on Thursday, February 27 in the GNAC Semifinals, traveling to New Haven, Conn. to take on #2 Albertus Magnus College who defeated #7 Suffolk University, 82-79, earlier tonight.