Men's Basketball earns huge GNAC win at Lasell

(Newton, Mass.) The Rivier University Men's Basketball team jumped out a fast start and held on for a 60-55 win over Lasell College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action on Wednesday night. The win increases the Raiders' overall record to 9-15 and more importantly a 6-11 mark in GNAC play. The loss drops the Lasers to 13-10 overall and 10-6 in the GNAC.

Senior Nick Walch (Dedham, Mass.) scored a game high 23 points and collected 9 rebounds while classmate and recent ECAC New England Player of the Week, Tom Poitras (Bow, NH) added 12 points and 10 rebound for his seventh double-double of the season. Freshman Kevin Francis (Cromwell, Conn.) chipped in 11 points and 8 rebounds in a reserve effort for Rivier.

Lasell was led by senior Rob Watts (Lafayette, NJ) who posted his first double-double of his career with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Raiders led 13-10 just over five minutes into the opening half before turning on the defensive effort and not allowing Lasell to score a basket over a 10 minute stretch. The Lasers missed 12 consecutive shots in the stretch and turned the ball over five times while Rivier put together a 12-0 run for a 25-10 advantage. A three pointer from Brandon Ganesh (West Palm Beach, Fla.) broke the Lasers drought with 4:07 left in the half, but Lasell was unable to cut into the deficit, trailing 34-20 at the half.

Rivier's lead grew to as many as 17, 48-31, courtesy of a Jake Nelson (Nashua, N.H.) lay-in with 10:43 to play in the contest. Lasell senior Brock Walters (Jacksonville, Fla.) buried three pointers on consecutive trips to get Lasell back within 11 at 48-37 and Lasell wouldn't go away.

The Lasers cut the lead to 52-45 on a Mike Vallone (Wallingford, Conn.) layup in transition, then climbed within three at 55-52 on a Ganesh three pointer with 1:22 to play in the game. A Walch free throw made it 56-52 in the Raiders favor and when the Lasers turned the ball over a pair of freebies from Francis put Rivier ahead 58-52 with just over 30 seconds to play.

An Angel Ortiz (East Lyme, Conn.) three pointer got Lasell back within three at 58-55, but River broke the Lasell pressure and converted a layup to put the game away, 60-55.

Rivier will close out their regular season with Anna Maria College on Saturday February 22nd. It will also mark the final home game for the senior class and Senior Day festivities will begin at the conclusion of the Women's Basketball game. The Lasers will travel to Suffolk on Thursday February 20th for a 7:30 p.m. contest before closing out their season at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon when they host St. Joseph's College of Maine.