Lasers nip Raiders, 71-65

(Nashua, NH) For the second time this season, the Lasell College Lasers were able to steal victory away from Rivier College as they took home a 71-65 win at the Muldoon Gymnasium.

The game was a bit of a back-and-forth struggle as the biggest lead of the night was held by Lasell early in the game with 10 points. A couple of late last minute foul shots extended a slim lead to 8 points. The dagger was hit by Sean Bertanza. His three pointer with 1:12 left gave the Lasers a 62-61 lead that would hold up.

The Raiders were led by sophomore Tom Poitras (Bow, NH) who recorded 17 points, 7 rebounds and one bloody nose. Also reaching double-digits were juniors Garon Whitney (Dover, NH) and Brian Troy (Westmoreland, NH). They had 11 and 10 points respectively while junior Mike Polley (Nashua, NH) was the team leader with 9 rebounds.

For Lasell, who improved to 9-11 overall and 8-5 in GNAC play, they were paced by Bertanza who had a game high 22 points. Both Javon Williams and Arthur Alexander had 10+ points for the Lasers.

The game was determined from the foul line. Rivier hit 52.9% of their free throws compared to Lasell's 76.2%. The teams were even from the field – 47.3% for Lasell and 47.1% for Rivier – but it was the Raiders who connected on more three point attempts.

With the loss, Rivier falls to 4-15 overall on the season and a 2-10 conference mark. Their next contest will be next Tuesday night when they travel to Anna Maria College. Game time is set for 7:30pm. Lasell will host Mount Ida College on Saturday afternoon in their next date of competition.