NEWTON, MA- In the final Lasell College men's basketball game of the season, the Lasers defeated visiting Rivier College, 81-73, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday afternoon. The Lasers overall season records finalizes at 6-19, 5-13 in the GNAC while the Raiders drop to 12-13 overall and 7-11 in the league.
Javon Williams (Mattapan, MA) was the high-scorer of the contest with 29 points for Lasell, and was just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds. The junior forward scored on an outstanding 13-of-17 (76.4%) attempts from the floor. Sean Bertanza (Seymour, CT) finished second in the contest with 22 points, adding six steals, four rebounds, and three assists. Aaron Jagoda (Atlanta, GA) also scored in double-digits for the Lasers, concluding the contest with 10 points, while Zachary Campbell (Cape Coral, FL) grabbed 11 boards, adding five assists.
Rivier was led by four players in double-figures. Tom Poitras (Bow, NH) registered a double-double performance with a team-best 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Poitras also tallied five assists and four steals in a strong all-around showing for the Raiders. Nick Bean (E. Longmeadow, MA) recorded 11 points while Cliff Celestin (Braintree, MA) and Jake Nelson (Nashua, NH) put 10 points on the board each.
The scoring started when Williams took a long lob pass in the post from Richie King (Carver, MA) for two, but Celestin netted a wide open three-pointer to flip the lead just moments later. Rivier would hold that lead through 15:28 when, after a Lasell timeout, Bertanza hit a quick jump shot, keeping the Lasers within one point. After Lasell's defensive pressure caused a shot clock violation on the Raiders end, Bertanza was hit as he penetrated to the hoop. The ensuing free throws tied the game at seven-all at the 15 minute mark.
Rivier's Troy and Bean nailed two consecutive three's on the baseline to reestablish the Raiders lead, 13-7, but by 13:42, Lasell had tied the score at 13-all after a 6-0 stretch of points by Williams and Bertanza. King gave Lasell their first lead since the opening bucket of the game(15-13), at 12:25, however a duo of foul shots by Bean knotted the score for the fourth time in the game at 11:54.
The teams battled between a narrow Lasell edge and a tie score through the 8:36 mark when Campbell drilled a three to put the Lasers on top, 25-21. The Lasers held onto their slight edge through the five minute mark after a dunk by Williams and a three-pointer by Aaron Jagoda (Atlanta, GA) made the score 33-27.
Lasell continued to advance on a 12-6 run as four points by Bertanza and another five from Jagoda pushed Lasell's advantage to 10 (42-32) with 1:30 to go in the half.
The Lasers' took a the largest lead of the game when a fast break by Williams with one minute left put them up 44-32, but two at the stripe by Celestin returned Lasell advantage to just ten point edge, 44-34, at the break.
At the end of the first half, Lasell had shot an impressive 61.3% (19-31) from the floor and 50% (3-6) from the arc to lift them above the Raiders who shot just 39.3% (11-28) from the field, and 33.3% (3-9) from three-point land. Neither team had particularly high marks at the free throw line, Lasell shooting just 42.9% (3-7) and Rivier netting only 64.3% (9-14). Lasell held a 20-16 advantage on the boards in the half.
Williams led all players at the break with 18 points for Lasell while shooting an outstanding 81.8% (9-11) from the floor. Bertanza had nine points at the half and Jagoda chipped in with eight.
On the Raiders side, Poitras and Celestin each tallied eight points at the intermission, with Poitras leading all players on the glass with six rebounds.
Lasell extended their lead to 15 (49-34) two minutes into the second half, causing Rivier to call a timeout to regroup. Poitras gave Rivier their first points of the half on a bucket in the paint at 17:48 and Bean connected on two at the stripe a minute later, but the Lasers answered with four points by Bertanza and a layup in transition by Williams to pull ahead 55-38.
At the 10:31 mark, Rivier had cut back to a 10 point deficit after a Poitras basket, and then made it an eight point game after a pair of free throws, also by Poitras, at 10:04. The Lasers went on to take a 15 point lead again, 66-51, at the seven minute mark, but the Raiders closed in on an eight point game twice in the next three minutes.
With 37 seconds on the clock, Will Snider (Brooklyn, NY) launched a three to bring the score to 75-66 and after a turnover by Lasell under the Raiders basket, Matt Nims (Weare, NH) cut through the basket to score two in the paint, bringing the score to 77-71 with 11 seconds to go.
The Raiders were unable to catch the Lasers though as Jagoda was sent to the line with five seconds to go, hitting both, and Williams capped the game with a breakaway one-handed dunk to seal Lasell's final game of the season in a victory.
Lasell won out on the glass, holding a 44-34 margin in rebounding throughout the game. Lasell also shot 49.2% (30-61) from the floor in the game, as opposed to Rivier's 40% (24-60).
The Raiders will await word on the final standings in the GNAC post-season tournament which begins on Tuesday, February 22nd.