Speedy Wildcats Run Around Raiders, 79-63

Nashua, NH – Junior guard Lamonte Thomas (Providence, RI) ran circles around the Rivier College defense as he led the Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University to a 79-63 win in tonight's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action.

Thomas led all scorers as he sliced up the Raiders for 38 points , draining 4 three-pointers and going 12 for 13 from the free throw line. Thomas was one assist shy of a triple-double as he grabbed 10 rebounds and added 9 assists in the convincing win. This is the second win of the season for the Wildcats over the Raiders as they also took the two teams first meeting 88-66.

From the start the Johnson & Wales team was proving to be too quick for the Raiders, causing a number of early turnovers on defense and making their way to the basket on offense. In all the Wildcats produces 32 Rivier turnovers while only committing 13 of their own. Rivier was able to keep the score close for most of the first half, due in large part to the shooting of senior captain Nick Bean (E. Longmeadow, MA). Bean scored all of his 14 points in the first half, going 3-5 from the three-point line and carrying the Raiders to a 39-32 halftime deficit.

Bean couldn't keep the heat on in the second half as he went 0 for 4 from the floor in the second half. Fellow senior Don Poitras (Bow, NH) tried to help out to keep pace with the Wildcats, dropping 18 second half points on his way to 22 points on the night, but it wasn't enough as the rest of the team could only produce 13 addition points as a group.

Three Wildcats scored in the double figures with Thomas leading the way with his 38 points. Louis Ferreras (Providence, RI) scored 18 and Darren Faust (Queens, NY) added 11 in the victory, pushing the Wildcats to 12-6 overall and 9-2 in GNAC play, keeping them in second place in the conference behind St. Joseph's of Maine.

Poitras led the Raiders with 22 points and Bean finished with 14 with freshman Jake Nelson (Nashua, NH) contributing with 8 points off the bench. The Raiders fall to 10-9 overall and 5-7 in the GNAC which puts them in a tie for fifth place with two weeks to play in the season.

Johnson and Wales will travel to Lasell College for their next GNAC game on Saturday at 2:00 PM while the Raiders will host Mount Ida College at 1:00 PM on the same day. The Wildcats have 7 GNAC games remaining over the next two weeks while the Raiders have 5 left to try to get into the top four in the conference to host a first round playoff game.