NEWTON, Mass. – Lasell College (10-4, 7-0 GNAC) eked past Saint Joseph's College (5-10, 2-6 GNAC), 80-75, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.

THE LEAD

Saint Joseph's nearly pulled off an impressive comeback victory late in the second half, as the Monks chipped away at an 18-point deficit (69-51) over a 10-minute span with a 20-5 scoring run. Freshman Ben Malloy (Standish, Maine) drilled a three-pointer to cap the offensive surge with the visitors trailing by three (74-71) with 36 seconds left, but the Lasers went 6-8 from the free-throw line in the final 28 seconds to remain undefeated in GNAC play.

The first half featured four lead changes and four tie scores as neither team claimed control until Lasell netted 11 unanswered points in the final 3:46 en route to taking a 46-35 cushion into intermission.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S

• Sophomore forward Quinn Richardson-Newton (Saco, Maine) led four SJC players in double digits with 19 points while pulling down a team-high nine rebounds
• Freshman guard Ian Mileikis (Auburn, Maine) tallied 15 points with six boards
• Freshman guard Darian Berry (Rochester, N.H.) contributed 14 points off a 4-6 three-point shooting performance
• Freshman forward Marc Corey (Londonderry, N.H.) added 12 points with six caroms
• Senior guard Craig Luschenat (Boston, Mass.) chipped in with nine points and four rebounds

TEAM LEADERS – LASELL

• Junior guard Armin Omanovic (Wilkesboro, N.C.) led all players with 28 points on 10-18 shooting with nine rebounds and four assists
• Senior forward Pat Marchand (Cranston, R.I.) turned his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds
• Sophomore Scott Arsenault (Walpole, Mass.) netted 16 points,
• Senior forward Logan Liberty (Duxbury, Vt.) posted 10 points, four rebounds, and two blocks

TEAM STATS

Saint Joseph's shot 43.5% (27-62) from the field, 38.5% (10-26) from three-point distance, and 78.6% (11-14) from the free throw line while Lasell shot 49.2% (29-59) from the floor, 36.7% (11-30) from downtown and 61.1% (11-18) from the charity stripe on the afternoon.

The Lasers owned advantages in rebounds (39-32), assists (17-15), blocked shots (4-0), points in the paint (32-16) and second chance points (11-8) while Saint Joseph's led in steals (6-2), turnovers (9-12), points off turnovers (15-13), bench points (20-3) and fast break points (4-0).

NOTEWORTHY

Richardson-Newton surpassed the 400 career-point plateau in the hard fought loss…nine turnovers is the fewest committed by the Monks this season…today's conference contest started approximately 15 minutes late as the Monks' arrival was delayed due to difficult travel and inclement weather.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's hosts Suffolk University at 3:00 PM on Monday while Lasell takes on Norwich University at home in a 7:30 PM tip-off on Tuesday.

#GOMONKS

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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.