AMHERST SHOOTS LIGHTS OUT TO OVERCOME LASELL

The Lasers visited the 10th-ranked and undefeated Amherst College men's basketball team on Tuesday evening, and though they gave the Lord Jeff's a tough matchup early on, Lasell departed with a 77-104 loss.

Amherst took the lead with a three point connection by first year David Waller (Tampa, FL) in the first possession of the game.  Lasell's Junior Sainval (Miami, FL) returned the call on the following play.  Amherst drew a small lead over the next few minutes, but the Lasers return play to within one point with another triple by Jose Guitian (Miami, FL).

Amherst went up 28-15 with 13:15 left on a fast break with Brian Baskauskas (Palo Alto, CA) finding Waller on the transition.  After a Laser time out, Brad Caravoulias (Dracut, Mass.) buried a basket from downtown, and Kevin Fallon (Manasquan, NJ) came off the bench to ignite the Lasers with two swift baskets.

The Lasers cut Amherst's lead to three with 4:11 remaining off a pair of free throws by Guitian, then brought the game within one point at the two minute mark with a jump shot by Caravoulias.  The Lord Jeff's hit the final two shots of the half, giving them a five point edge at the break. 

Though Lasell shot 48.8% overall from the field and 53.3% in three point field goals, Amherst shot lights out in the first half, with an impressive 70% from the field and 72.7% from behind the arc. 

Guitian layed in a bucket to open the second half, with the assist going to point guard Kevin Richard (New Orleans, LA), which brought the Lasers back within three. Amherst then pushed for a 14-5 stretch over the next six minutes, giving them a 71-59 lead with 11:27 on the clock. 

At 8:54, Guitian hit two more free throws to close the gap to nine, however, Amherst's Glen Wong (Leverett, Mass.) hit three three's in four possessions to boost the Lord Jeff's up to a 97-73 lead.  Amherst shot 68% from downtown for the evening, and 60% overall, ending the game with a 104-77 win.

Guitian finished with a game-best 28 points, going 10-21 from the field with 2 three pointers, and connecting on 6-6 from the line.   Caravoulias went 7-12 in field goals, also with 2 three's, for 18 total points.

Lasell opens up conference play on Thursday, December 4th against GNAC foe Rivier College.  The Raiders are 3-0 this season, most recently beating New England College, 69-65.  Lasell's record is 2-3 overall at this early point of the season.