CARAVOULIAS SCORES 1,000TH POINT AS LASELL TOPS RIVIER

Reigning GNAC Men's Basketball Champions Lasell College opened conference play Thursday evening against Rivier College, topping the Raiders, 68-57.  The Lasers are now 3-3 on the year and 1-0 in conference play, while Rivier suffered their first loss of the season and in the conference, ending the night at 3-1 (0-1). 

Rivier was the first to score, going up 5-0 before Brad Caravoulias (Dracut, Mass.) secured a three-pointer, putting Lasell on the board.  The connection was also a milestone basket for Caravoulias as he recorded his 1,000th and 1,0001st career points upon completion.  Within the next minute, a layup by Jose Guitian (Miami, FL) and another trifecta by Junior Sainval (Miami, FL) created the advantage in favor of Lasell. 

The visiting Lasers went up as much as ten in the first half, with Corey Godfrey (Cambridge, Mass.) leading the way scoring 12 points in just ten minutes.  The Raiders kept the game within reach on the back of Nick Bean (East Longmeadow, Mass.) who shot 4-4 from downtown and had 14 first half points.  Lasell settled into a 6 point lead at the half. 

With fifteen minutes remaining, Bean hit his fifth three to bring the Raiders within 3 points of Lasell.  However, a dunk by Guitian off an ally-oop play sent from Kevin Richard (New Orleans, LA) sparked the Lasers who held a respectable lead for the remainder of the game.  Lasell's defensive pressure also caused 13 Raider turnovers, and resulted in 24 conversion points throughout the contest for the Lasers.    

Guitian finished with a team high 21 points and a game high 11 rebounds.   Godfrey added 16 total points, and Sainval and Caravoulias had 12 and 11 correspondingly. Lasell has a four day hiatus before returning to conference play on Tuesday, December 9th when they face Norwich College (1-5) at home, at 6:00 p.m.