Men's Basketball: Lorden's double-double not enough in 79-66 loss to JWU

(Nashua, N.H.) The Rivier University Men's Basketball team dropped their Great Northeast Athletic Conference home opener this evening as visiting Johnson and Wales University stole 79-66 win inside the Muldoon Gymnasium. The loss is the fifth of the season for Rivier as they are now 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the GNAC. The Wildcats earn win number one and are now 1-3, 1-1 GNAC.

The Raiders jumped out to an early 15-3 lead over the first five minutes. The Wildcats clawed back and were able to go on a 17-5 run over the middle ten minutes to tie the game and eventually take the lead for good.

Senior David Lorden (Pepperell, Mass.) led Rivier with his first double-doubel of the season. The veteran forward recorded 11 points and 12 rebounds, both season highs, as he played in over 30 minutes off the bench. Fellow senior Kevin Francis (Cromwell, Conn.) collected double-digit rebounds himself with 12 while adding seven points. Freshman Tristian Givens (Windsor, Conn.) led the offense with 13 points scored on just 6-of-18 shooting. Freshman Angel Perez (Miami, Fla.) also added ten points in the loss for the Raiders.

JWU was paced by Jarell Lawson who led the game with 27 points and eight rebounds. Randall Ferdinand came off the bench to collect 21 points and Demani Spence provided nine points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Both squads will return to GNAC action on Saturday afternoon. The Raiders will host Anna Maria College at 3pm. Johnson and Wales will host Albertus Magnus College in a 1pm tip-off at the Wildcat Center.