Men's Basketball upended at the buzzer in overtime, fall to Lasell 78-75

(Newton, Mass.) It took overtime and a miracle half-court shot by Lasell College junior Armin Omanovic (Wilkesboro, N.C.) to send the Rivier University Men's Basketball team to a 78-75 defeat in the first Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest of the season for both teams. Rivier falls to 0-6 on the season – 0-1 in the coaching career of Lance Bisson '09 – and are 0-1 in the GNAC. Lasell, meanwhile, improves to 2-3 overall, 1-0 GNAC.

Junior guard Victor Davila (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) led the visitors with 17 points overall with all points coming from behind the arc. Junior forward Kevin Francis (Cromwell, Conn.) and sophomore guard Andre Ruff (Chicago, Ill.) rounded off the double-digit scoring with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Four starters for the Lasers scored in double-digits on the evening, as senior guard Richard O'Brien (Manchester, N.H.) led all players with 23 points on 7-for-14 shooting to go along with 50% shooting from downtown. Senior forward Pat Marchand (Cranston, R.I.) registered his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while senior forward Logan Liberty (Duxbury, Vt.) scored 11 points with four boards.

At the 8:58 mark in half one, a Francis layup broke a 13-13 tie where the Raiders held on the lead until Marchand collected a pass from sophomore Scott Arsenault (Walpole, Mass.) to give Lasell a 32-31 advantage before the halftime break. The second stanza saw four deadlocks on which the Raiders held composure for the lead before junior forward Yordan Villalon (Miami, Fla.) tipped in two points from the glass to trail just 63-61 with eight seconds remaining in regulation.

The Lasers capitalized on a Rivier turnover and set O'Brien up for the two-point equalizer, where he drove to the basket and sunk the layup at the horn to force overtime action in the Athletic Center Gym. With 16 seconds left, O'Brien sank a free throw for the 75-73 lead, where Francis answered right back with a layup of his own. The clock ticked down from two seconds following Francis's basket, where Omanovic sprinted just past half court and chucked up the go-ahead three-pointer at the buzzer to give Lasell the 78-75 overtime-thriller victory.

Both teams return to action on Thursday, December 3. The Raiders will host Anna Maria College in a GNAC contest at 7pm, while Lasell travels to Rhode Island College for a non-conference tilt.