Whitney's double-double leads Rivier past Lasers, 55-40

(Newton, Mass.) The Rivier University Men's Basketball team rallied for a 55-40 GNAC victory over Lasell College this evening inside Lasell's Athletic Center. Rivier improves to 8-9 overall and 4-6 in conference play, while Lasell slipped to 3-14 on the year and 2-8 in league action.

Junior Tom Poitras (Bow, N.H.) was the high man for Rivier, netting 19 points on 6-15 shooting from the floor and 7-10 from the charity stripe. Senior Garon Whitney (Dover, N.H.) and junior Nick Walch (Dedham, Mass.) each reached double digits for the Raiders, scoring 15 and 13 respectively, with Whitney adding a game-high 12 rebounds.

Angel Ortiz (East Lyme, Conn.) was the high scorer for the Lasers, finishing with 14 points on 4-9 shooting from the field. Chris Canino (Hartford, Conn.) corralled a team-high nine rebounds while blocking four shots.

Rivier held an advantage shooting the basketball, finishing at 39% from the floor, while Lasell shot 26.5% for the game. The Raiders also knocked down 17 free throws to the Lasers nine.

The visitors built an early 19-5 lead through the opening 10 minutes of play, and maintained a lead of at least eight throughout the remainder of the first half, taking a 29-18 lead into the intermission.

Lasell trailed 35-21 early in the second half, before making a run to climb back into the game. A Frank Apisa (Branchburg, N.J.) layup and six straight points from Rob Roy (Dover, N.H.) cut the deficit to six points at 35-29 with 11:53 to play in the game.

Lasell went cold again from the floor, and Rivier went on a 5-0 run to take a 40-29 lead with 7:38 left in the game. Eight straight points from Ortiz with only three Rivier free throws mixed in allowed the Lasers to cut the deficit to 43-37 with 5:44 on the clock, but the hosts would get no closer, falling 55-40.

Rivier will be back in action on the 24th when they host Suffolk University at 7:00 p.m, while Lasell will host Albertus Magnus College on January 24th at 7:30 p.m.